Dave Roberts has to ‘pinch myself’ seeing Shohei Ohtani in Dodgers uniform
Pitchers and catchers had their first spring workout on Friday, but it’s Ohtani’s presence in camp that is drawing all the attention
The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, with interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, right, listens to a question as he speaks to media at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, on the first day of spring training baseball workouts for the Dodgers. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani pauses as he speaks to reporters during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, center, with interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, right, speaks to reporters on the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani speaks to reporters on the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, center, with interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, right, speaks to reporters on the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani speaks to reporters on the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, center, with interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, right, speaks to reporters on the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, center, with interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, right, speaks to reporters on the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani smiles as he speaks to reporters on the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, foreground, walks to the workout fields during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto follows through during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto stretches during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, center, adjusts his cap as he talks with teammates and staff on the field during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto walks to the workout fields followed by media during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto walks to the workout fields during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws in the outfield during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto leaps for a ball during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers shortstop Gavin Lux, wearing a knee brace, looks to throw to first base during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers shortstop Gavin Lux throws to first base during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler throws off a mound during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts walks to the field during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, right, stands with shortstop Gavin Lux, second from right, on the field during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Dodgers pitcher James Paxton throws during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A child wearing a Shohei Ohtani jersey and cap rides on their father’s shoulders during the first day of Dodgers spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu trains during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
New Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu trains during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
From left, Dodgers teammates right fielder Jason Heyward, center fielder James Outman and third baseman Max Muncy walk from the field during the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
As the sun rises on a cold morning, members of the media walk to the entrance of Camelback Ranch before the first day of spring training workouts on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The evidence is everywhere. This is not a normal spring at Camelback Ranch.
The parking lot outside the entrance to the Dodgers’ training complex has been lined with dozens of Japanese reporters as early as 6 a.m. each day this week, cameras pointed to capture any glimpse of the new guy in camp. Security has been tightened with even credentialed media being scrutinized at a level unfamiliar during the normally relaxed early days of spring training.
And the No. 17 jerseys – clean, white and fresh off the shelves – seemed to be on the backs of every other fan walking the grounds at Camelback Ranch as the Dodgers’ pitchers and catchers went through their first workout of the spring on Friday.
“I’ve still got to pinch myself to see him in a Dodger uniform,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the object of all this attention, the team’s new $700 million man, Shohei Ohtani.
Even Ohtani himself can feel how things have changed with his move from the Angels to the Dodgers this winter.
“I’m on a brand new team so I’m going to act like I’m a rookie and try to get along with all the guys, and get along with my teammates,” Ohtani said through his interpreter.
“I like to go up and say hi, introduce myself. But there are so many new people that I have to make sure I don’t introduce myself twice. If I do, hopefully they’ll let it go.”
While the signs of Ohtani’s presence are evident at the Dodgers’ facility, the man himself will be largely out of view for now.
Last year’s elbow surgery means that Ohtani pitching in 2024 is “not on the table,” Roberts said. But the DH arrived in camp Monday and began hitting off a pitching machine at CBR, a significant step forward in his recovery that puts him on track to debut in the Dodgers’ lineup when they open the season in South Korea on March 20.
“My swing, effort level-wise, is almost 100 percent,” Ohtani said Friday. “My next step is facing live arms or facing some velo from the machine.”
After his first elbow surgery in 2018, Ohtani’s hitting-only debut in 2019 was delayed until May and he didn’t pitch again until the pandemic-shortened 2020 season when he made just two starts before being shut down with a flexor strain.
Balancing his preparation as a hitter while rehabbing as a pitcher will be easier this time around, Ohtani said.
“This is not my first time doing this, rehabbing while getting ready for the season,” he said. “I did this back in ’19 so I kind of know how to do it and I feel like it’ll be easier the second time around.”
Being able to focus on hitting this season has Ohtani confident that he can more than meet expectations in his first season with the Dodgers.
“I feel like there’s not just one level but several levels ahead offense-wise,” said Ohtani who set career-highs with a .304 batting average and 1.066 OPS while winning his second American League MVP award with the Angels last season.
Whatever numbers Ohtani puts up this season, he has already made a good first impression.
“Obviously we knew his work ethic was top shelf, but to see how deliberate everything he does is, our training staff commented that they’ve never seen a guy returning from surgery that is so intentional about every single thing they do,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “From every swing he takes. Most guys kind of get in the cage and they just mindlessly swing. He does his whole pre-pitch routine between every pitch. Just how intentional every single thing he does is, whether it’s in the weight room, out on the field, that you can’t really fully appreciate until you see it.”
KERSHAW CONTRACT
The Dodgers made their signing of Clayton Kershaw official on Friday and added him to the roster (with Tony Gonsolin moved to the 60-day injured list).
“We’ve said this a lot, but it feels like everything is right in the world when Kershaw is wearing Dodger blue,” Friedman said.
Kershaw’s contract will pay him $5 million in salary this season with an additional $7.5 million in incentives if he makes as many as 10 starts. Recovering from shoulder surgery in November, Kershaw is not expected to pitch until sometime in the second half of the season.
Unlike the past two seasons when he signed one-year contracts, Kershaw’s deal this time includes a player option for a second season. The base salary in 2025 would be $5 million again with bonuses again.
“But knowing him, he’s going to start pushing probably earlier than the doctors suggest and recommend. But so much of a guy returning from surgery – there’s a couple factors that play a large part in that, one is who is the surgeon? And two is how much can you bet on them and the rehab process and how he’ll attack it. Those boxes couldn’t have been checked in a more resounding way. We feel good that he will come and contribute and be a big part of what we do. The when? We’re not sure yet.”
