Ohtani undergoes shoulder surgery; timeline to return to mound TBD

SAN ANTONIO -- Shohei Ohtani underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, the Dodgers announced on Tuesday. The team expects him to be ready in time for Spring Training, though it is unclear how the rehab will affect his timeline to return to the mound.

Ohtani sustained the injury, which was to his non-throwing shoulder, on an attempted steal of second base during Game 2 of the World Series. The Dodgers initially described the injury as a subluxation, or a partial dislocation. The procedure to repair the resulting labrum tear was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.

Despite the injury, Ohtani was in the lineup for Games 3-5 of the World Series and went 1-for-11 with a walk and a run scored. He looked uncomfortable while swinging at times and supported his left shoulder by holding onto his jersey.

At the time, Ohtani said the injury did not impact his swing much because his left shoulder was hurt rather than his right one. General manager Brandon Gomes reiterated that on Wednesday at the General Managers Meetings, noting that it pointed to a better prognosis for the Dodgers' superstar.

"Especially because that would have been [his] throwing shoulder if it was lead shoulder," Gomes said. "I think the fact that it was back shoulder, non-throwing arm and back arm for swinging, it's just far less of a concern of how violent any of that would be as opposed to if it were the other one."

While the team is not concerned that this injury will affect Ohtani's long-term future as a pitcher, Gomes said the fact that he's also a hitter complicates the overall recovery process. It's possible that Ohtani will not be available to pitch when the Dodgers open the 2025 season against the Cubs in Tokyo.

"I think there’s a lot of questions there of making sure that he is in a good place," Gomes said. "I don’t want to speculate on any of that. We’re just [keeping the] big picture in mind and making sure that, working backwards, [we're doing] what puts us in the best position for him to be taking down innings in October. And however that falls out, we’ll be happy with.”

A World Series ring capped a phenomenal year for Ohtani, who put together an unprecedented power-speed season by becoming the founding member of the 50-50 club, ending the year with 54 homers and 59 stolen bases. He's the clear favorite to take home his third MVP Award -- his first in the National League -- in his first season since joining the Dodgers on a record-setting 10-year, $700 million contract.

His eventual return to the mound will give Ohtani the chance to reestablish himself as a two-way superstar. The 30-year-old right-hander spent 2024 rehabbing from his second right UCL repair procedure and did not pitch all season. He went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA across 23 starts when he last appeared as a pitcher with the Angels in '23.

While he recovers from his shoulder surgery, Ohtani will be shut down from throwing, something Gomes said he likely would have done regardless before beginning an offseason throwing program. That timeline will be pushed back further, which could hurt his chances of opening the season in the rotation.

"We don't know what the rehab process will lead to," Gomes said. "I can't speculate on that any further. But [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto, [Tyler] Glasnow, [Tony] Gonsolin, [Dustin] May and then we have a bunch of our younger guys that have contributed. We'll see how all that plays out and if there are any acquisitions in the offseason, which we'll be certainly looking closely at."

Given the injuries that ravaged the Dodgers' rotation in 2024, and the resulting innings limits that their returning starters should have in '25, the team could consider rolling out a six-man rotation, at least early in the season.

If there was one thing Los Angeles learned from last season, it was that there is no such thing as too much starting depth, indicating that the team will not only rely on getting healthier to bolster the rotation.

"We went into the season, I think, with 12 pitchers last year," Gomes said, "and that wasn't enough. So we'll be exploring the pitching market, for sure."