The Dodgers’ star is in a joking mood with the seaosn approaching.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been in a joking mood at spring training while preparing for the 2025 season. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has gotten into a prank war with star pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani.
Roberts filled Ohtani’s car with ball-pit balls, creating quite the mess in the parking lot. Roberts left a photo of himself laughing at the scene.
“Alright, Shohei. You got me the first round,” Roberts said, via MLB.com. “I told you, you know what they say about payback. So what I have done is — you see this pretty face right here, that’s me with all these balls. And I put all these balls in your car. So, enjoy it, keep these pictures, and have fun cleaning your car out.”
Ohtani’s dog, Decoy, was declared the winner of the prank war after having the opportunity to play with the balls.
“While Roberts may have gotten back at Ohtani on Friday, the real winner of the whole ordeal might have been Decoy, Ohtani’s dog, who had a blast playing with the giant pile of ball-pit balls the manager left behind,” Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com wrote.
Ohtani is still recovering, but hopes to return to the mound shortly after the 2025 season begins.
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani speaks on Tommy John recovery
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes Ohtani will be able to throw well and return to old form when he takes the rubber this season.
“I think the velocity will be there, he’ll have a feel for his pitches,” Roberts said, via the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve really never seen anyone as competitive as Shohei, so I would expect him to be the same pitcher, as he’s expecting himself to be the pitcher he was when he was healthy.”
Tommy John surgery can be a horror story for a pitcher, especially if they have to go through it twice.
“Having one Tommy John surgery is tough,” said Nathan Eovaldi, a 35-year-old veteran who won World Series rings with the Boston Red Sox in 2018 and Rangers in 2023. “Going through it twice is not easy.”
Ohtani has made some mechanics changes to his pitching form to make things easier on his arm.
“It wasn’t something that I necessarily brought to the table; it was something that he did,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said. “I like when guys have some athleticism and rhythm in their delivery. I think it can help with guys’ sequencing and timing, and ultimately will take some stress off of an arm.”
