Ohtani aims to pitch again in 2027

Los Angeles Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani celebrates his home run Thursday, his one extra base hit of the playoffs.

LOS ANGELES — As Shohei Ohtani stood in front of his locker and answered questions following the Dodgers’ season-ending loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night, there was one thing about which he was not vague or evasive.

He intends to pitch next season and return to being a two-way player.

“Yes, definitely,” he said through his interpreter. “And (I am) looking forward to having a better season next year.”

Ohtani was having a very good year as a pitcher through the first three months of the season. Through 14 starts and 85 2/3 innings, Ohtani was 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts.

But he did not throw a pitch after July 3 due to injuries to his left knee and right arm.

There has been little transparency about what injuries Ohtani was dealing with. The team announced he received a lubricant injection in his left knee at the all-star break. But it was Ohtani who revealed he was feeling pain in his right biceps during the season.

That injury was never outlined in any detail. Manager Dave Roberts said during the season that Ohtani had imaging (likely an MRI) on his right arm at some point and it didn’t reveal any structural damage.

Ohtani was asked after the National League Championship Series finale if he anticipates requiring surgery or some type of medical procedure this off-season to address either his knee or arm issues.

“(It’s) hard to tell at this point,” he said. “It’s something that’s going to be analyzed, discussed over the offseason and see if that’s a viable thing to do.”

At 32 and now with a litany of significant health issues — he has had surgery on his left knee, left shoulder and right elbow twice — the toll of two-way play over the course of the season might not be realistic for Ohtani much longer.

The injuries he dealt with in 2026 not only curtailed his pitching at mid-season, they also impacted his offensive production. His batting average (.275), on-base percentage (.377) and OPS (.889) were his lowest since 2022 with the Angels. His 30 home runs were his fewest in a full season since 2019.

When he arrived at spring training in February, Ohtani set as his goal “just being healthy the whole year.” He was unable to meet that goal and acknowledged Thursday night that he was “not quite satisfied with how things shaped up upon the pitching side” in 2026, preventing him from pitching in the post-season. What that means for 2027, he could not say.

“I haven’t been able to really come to grips with what I want long term in terms of pitching,” Ohtani said. “It’s something that I’m going to go back to the drawing board in terms of treatment, training programs and see what I can come up with for next season.”

Ohtani gave the Dodgers hope in Game 4 on Thursday with a three-run home run in the second inning. But that was his only home run since Aug. 18 and he finished the post-season 5 for 26 (.192) with that one extra-base hit. He said he was “very disappointed” in the results.

“The Brewers were overall strong and a very good team and it really … exposed some of the parts of me as a player and I have to give some credit to that,” he said.

— The Orange County Register