'This is unprecedented': Dodgers provide Shohei Ohtani pitching update

The Los Angeles Dodgers' 2026 season did not have the result they wanted or expected, but general manager Andrew Friedman did provide the organization and its fan base with a little positive news on Wednesday as it relates to next season.

Shohei Ohtani will not require any offseason surgery to fix his left knee or right arm issues that limited him at times this season.

That means the Dodgers expect Ohtani to pitch next season.

Dodgers expect Shohei Ohtani to pitch during 2027 season

While acknowledging that he expects Ohtani to pitch next season, Friedman also admitted he does not quite have an idea as to what that looks like just yet.

From ESPN's Alden Gonzalez:

"This is unprecedented, what he's doing," Friedman added. "So obviously for us it's unprecedented. We don't have any experience to draw from. We can't go look at how other situations have played out to try to learn from the good and the bad. We have to all just figure it out together. And I'm not only expecting him to pitch; we're excited about him pitching. So now it's about: How do we do that? How do we manage through a long season and have him at his best going into October? That's a challenge."

Ohtani had previously said that he intends to pitch next season, and now that the Dodgers agree with that assessment, he seems to be on track to do so. At least for now. 

Since joining the Dodgers, Ohtani's ability to pitch has been dramatically limited by injuries and surgeries, and through his first three years with the team, he has only appeared in 28 games as a pitcher, throwing just 132.2 innings.

He did not pitch at all during the 2024 season and was limited in 2025 as he recovered from the surgery that kept him off the mound the previous season.

His last pitching appearance in 2026 back on July 3.

When he has been healthy enough to take the mound, he has been one of the best right-handed pitchers in baseball and looked like he was putting together a Cy Young-caliber season in 2026. The Dodgers just have not been able to see enough of it.

The injuries also seemed to be impacting him at the plate in the second half of the 2026 season as he went into the playoffs on a terrible slump, with it lasting throughout the entire postseason. 

After posting an OPS over 1.000 in each of the previous three seasons, it went down to .889 this season. Still elite, but not what we have become accustomed to seeing from him. 

The injury issues have impacted his pitching far more than his hitting throughout his career, and it is another reminder as to how difficult it is to try to be a two-way player in the modern game. The fact he has been able to do as much as he has, for as long as he has, is a testament to his overall talent and greatness.