NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani does so many things to marvel at that even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts can’t marvel at them all.
“I do marvel quite often,” Roberts said Saturday at Citi Field. “It’s sort of commonplace now. But when I take a step back, it’s pretty astounding.”
A year ago, Ohtani put together the first 50-50 season in baseball history – all while rehabilitating from a second elbow surgery. This year, he is off to an even better start, just months after undergoing a significant surgery on his left shoulder.
Ohtani dislocated that shoulder during the World Series and underwent arthroscopic surgery days later to repair a labrum tear in the joint. The expectation was that the procedure would not affect his hitting as much as surgery on his right shoulder, the front shoulder in the left-handed hitter’s swing, would. But some players have taken time after shoulder surgery to recover their power.
Ohtani, on the contrary, went into Saturday’s game leading the National League in home runs (17), second only to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge (18) in the majors. His .643 slugging percentage is second to teammate Freddie Freeman in the National League.
“It is kind of amazing that this offseason, he had major surgery, to come back and be that productive,” Roberts said. “But he worked really hard this offseason, and he’s having a tremendous season.”
That he would pick up right where he left off last season, despite the shoulder surgery was not immediately evident this spring, Roberts said.
“No, he wasn’t the same Shohei in spring training,” he said. “I think once we got into the season, once we got back to the States after Japan, I thought he kind of really let it go, felt completely strong. I don’t recall one at-bat or anything like that, but I do think that once we came stateside, he took it to another level.”
Ohtani will take his multi-tasking to another level on Sunday when he throws a live batting practice session. It…
Read the full article here
