Max Muncy Shares What Dodgers Need from Shohei Ohtani

The best two-way player of this generation is getting ever closer to his return to the mound.

Shohei Ohtani, whose last pitching appearance came August 23, 2023, has continued to make progress in his recovery from a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament later that season. Earlier this week, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters there is a "north of zero" chance that Ohtani could return to the team's rotation prior to the All-Star Break, per ESPN's Alden Gonzalez.

Ohtani, meanwhile, remains one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball. His 25 home runs lead all players in the National League, and he has also hit at a .290 clip with 41 RBIs, 11 stolen bases and a 1.023 OPS.

Third baseman Max Muncy understands the importance of Ohtani's everyday productivity in the lineup, and he wants to ensure his teammate – and the Dodgers organization as a whole – keeps another priority in mind.

"We need him to be healthy. They're moving slow, and we're all happy about that. We, obviously, want him to be pitching, but we want him to be healthy first and foremost," Muncy said, via Gonzalez. "When you're doing what he's doing, it's so unprecedented that I don't know if there is a proper timeline. He might be moving faster than what he should be moving right now. We don't really know that because it's just never really been done before.”