Shohei Ohtani has been sidelined from pitching since July 3, and he is nearing a return to the mound.
There was speculation that Ohtani could return to starting as a pitcher on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers, but Dave Roberts revealed that will not be the case. While he did not reveal a target return date, he did make it known that Ohtani would not pitch on Tuesday either, per The Athletic's Katie Woo.
According to Woo, Ohtani did not feel "100 percent" following a 20-pitch bullpen session on Friday.
The Dodgers are not going to send Ohtani on a rehab assignment to the minor leagues to build up as a starter. His bat is too valuable to do that. However, he will need time to build up as a starter again. Last year, it took him 11 games to reach five innings of work in a start, but that was after a year-plus off from pitching.
Ohtani was having a stellar season on the mound, posting a 1.79 ERA through 14 starts. He had gone at least six innings in all but one of his starts, and he was a key part of the Dodgers rotation. However, the team has no shortage of elite starters, and they do have the option to shut Ohtani down from pitching.
"Roberts said the organization has not yet decided whether to shut Ohtani down from pitching this season," wrote Woo on Saturday.