Shohei Ohtani met with the media on Wednesday to provide an update on his recovery from Tommy John surgery.
Ohtani, who underwent the operation on October 1, began gently tossing the ball last week. On Wednesday, he played catch from about 50 feet with about 30 percent intensity. That’s the farthest distance he’s thrown since the operation.
Ohtani played catch from about 50 feet with an estimated 30% intensity & no reported issues. He is playing catch Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and scaling back on hitting those days. Today he skipped hitting entirely. He’s still only doing soft toss. pic.twitter.com/VWErfjbLEQ
— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) March 14, 2019
The case with Ohtani is more complex than your standard Tommy John recovery for a pitcher. He also bats and is aiming to do so for the Angels this season. There is not much protocol for a player of his caliber trying to do both in recovery, so they’re figuring things out. The team had him skip hitting on Wednesday for instance. His batting work is also light as he’s only doing soft toss.
The Angels have made clear that they will not rush him back and that he will not be playing for them before May. Ohtani went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA as a pitcher and batted .285 with a .925 OPS last season.
