Shohei Ohtani progresses in Dodgers recovery with…
Shohei Ohtani has taken another step ahead in his recovery from proper arm and left knee accidents.
On Saturday afternoon, the two-way star did base-running drills on the sector during Dodgers batting apply — and started taking simulated at-bats against the group’s Trajekt Arc pitching machine behind the scenes in the clubhouse batting cages.
The former was the more seen development, marking the first time Ohtani had been seen on the sector performing bodily actions since he went on the injured record at the end of last week’s homestand.
His work in the hitting cages, however, was a more telling signal of how shortly he may give you the chance to return to motion, representing a vital step in what has thus far been a setback-free ramp-up course of.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani works out on the sector prior to a sport against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Los Angeles. IMAGN IMAGES via GWN Connect
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) runs the bases on the sector prior to a sport against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Saturday, September 19, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via GWN Connect
At the start of the week, Ohtani resumed hitting actions with incremental steps. First, he hit off a tee. Then, he took comfortable tosses from coaches. In latest days, he had begun swinging off a pitching machine, too.
But the Trajekt machine is different; offering gamers augmented actuality at-bats in which a video screen shows a particular pitcher’s windup before firing a ball out of a slot from their hand.
In latest years, the technology has change into ubiquitous around MLB clubhouses.
And in lieu of a minor-league rehab stint — not possible now with the minor-league season ending — will probably be Ohtani’s best method to hone a game-ready swing again.
“You hope it bridges the gap a little bit,” hitting coach Aaron Bates said. “So between machine, live pitching, Trajekt, somewhere in between that, that’s the best you can do.”
Bates has been half of the group overseeing Ohtani’s latest cage work. He said the slugger has seemed “great” and shown no indicators of his accidents while returning to full-intensity reps.
“In the cage, in a controlled setting, he’s been really good. It’s 100% intensity,” Bates said. “Once he gets out to the field, if he does a live BP or something like that, and the intensity ramps up, it’ll be a good test to see what happens. But in the cage, in the controlled setting, he’s been really good.”
Before Ohtani went on the injured record, it was evident to the Dodgers’ hitting workers that the two-way star “looked extremely compromised,” as Bates acknowledged.
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One key signal: Ohtani was following through on more of his swings with a one-handed end, one thing Bates famous is “always kind of a tell for Shohei, whether he’s going through something or not, just because he is disconnected a bit from his back side.”
Lately, however, Ohtani’s two-handed end has returned in his swing — as has the Dodgers’ optimism that he might be in a position to present manufacturing in their lineup, despite the 6-for-52 stoop he was mired in beforehand.
“I think everything’s been good so far,” Bates said.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) flies out to left area against the Cincinnati Reds during the first inning of a baseball sport at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via GWN Connect
Shohei Ohtani (17) of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after fouling a ball off his foot during the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. Getty Images
When Ohtani might be activated stays unclear, with his 15-day stint not up until next Wednesday. But supervisor Dave Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman have said they count on him to be back before the end of the common season.
Bates echoed that sentiment Saturday, saying Ohtani seems to be “on schedule” while deferring any more particular timeline to the training workers.
Ohtani has not requested to get a particular quantity of simulated at-bats before being activated, Bates added.
“He just kind of goes how he feels,” he said. “And the rehab guys will have kind of the exact quantity kind of laid out for them in that sense.”
Time will still inform, of course, whether or not Ohtani will really appear like himself when he returns, or if he the months he spent enjoying through his accidents have left him too diminished to make his typical impression with the bat.
As Bates famous, it’s attainable Ohtani might get a live batting apply session against a pitcher before returning (although the group is short on arms at the second succesful of doing that, Roberts said Saturday). But past that, his Trajekt at-bats will seemingly account for the majority of his hitting preparation before returning to sport motion.
“You kind of fire them out there and see what happens,” Bates said. “Just like spring training, it kind of takes guys a little bit of time to get their footing. But it depends on the person. Every guy is a little bit different with how much time they need. Some guys don’t need a lot.”
Ohtani, Bates said, is in that latter class.
And so far, at least, his hitting development goes about as effectively as they may have hoped.
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