Dodgers just dropped a rare bullish update on Shohei Ohtani's return to pitching

The Dodgers have been careful not to make many promises about Shohei Ohtani's return to pitching. That doesn't mean that Dave Roberts isn't asked about it, because he is (and frequently), but aside from a general understanding that Ohtani will pitch again sometime after the All-Star break, actually assigning a firm date to his Dodgers pitching debut is a little tricky.

The lineup can't afford to lose Ohtani, so he's been completing this throwing progression in tandem with his DH'ing duties. He started throwing on flat ground in spring training and briefly transitioned to bullpens before they shut him down to focus on hitting.

As he's settled back in, and with more time between now and his elbow surgery in 2023, they've been able to ramp him up again on the pitching side.

On Sunday, the Dodgers' official social media accounts posted a slew of videos from Ohtani's first live BP at Citi Field, complete with a hype reel. It's basically the first time they've done that in such a public capacity, and it seems to signal that — despite skepticism from a lot of national outlets that Ohtani will continue pitching for long — Ohtani the pitcher is getting ready to come back, and the Dodgers will continue to facilitate his two-way player status as long as possible.

Shohei Ohtani threw his first live batting practice as a Dodger on Sunday

Ohtani threw 22 pitches in five plate appearances and mixed in five different pitches, but primarily stuck to his fastball (sat around 95, topped out at 97), cutter, and sinker. Dodgers game planning coach JT Watkins was one of the batters Ohtani faced, along with Hyeseong Kim and Dalton Rushing, and Watkins whiffed at a nasty breaking ball to strike out. Watkins walked in his other appearance, Kim was able to double off of Ohtani after his first plate appearance resulted in a tapper back to the mound, and Rushing struck out in his one at-bat.

Basically the entire Dodgers offense was on the field to watch, and even a few Mets were watching from the home dugout.

Pitching coach Mark Prior said, "He looks good. He looked healthy. That’s always the main thing with facing hitters. That he feels confident, his endurance is good, he maintained his stuff. From that standpoint, it was good. Pitch movement-wise, it looked good, too."

So while there's still no exact date on Ohtani's return, and he'll have definitely have to throw a lot more BPs in lieu of a rehab assignment, there's no doubt about it — he's on his way.