Major League Baseball superstar Ohtani Shohei of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been training ahead of his much-awaited comeback as a pitcher for the first time in two seasons.
Ohtani has been working out in a ball park in Phoenix, Arizona. His team will hold its pre-season camp in the southern US state from Tuesday.
As many fans watched, he took the field for the first time in two days on Saturday, throwing some balls as far as around 50 meters.
He also threw 22 pitches with a team staff member serving as catcher. Ohtani occasionally looked dissatisfied with the speed of his pitches.
He has been doing various exercises for the past six days to enhance his workouts ahead of the camp’s official start.
The two-way star played only as a batter since he underwent surgery to repair his right elbow ligament in 2023.
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has indicated that Ohtani aims to play as a batter in the season-opener against the Chicago Cubs to be held in Japan in March, and is not likely to return to the mound at least until May.
