Shohei Ohtani is in the early stages of recovery from surgery to fix a torn labrum in his left shoulder, following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series win against the New York Yankees last month.
“We’ve already removed the stitches,” Ohtani said on Thursday in Los Angeles after winning his third MVP award, his first with the Dodgers. “The current goal is to bring back my range of motion. Today we started working on core, and we’re slowly increasing our efforts right now.”
Ohtani had the surgery on November 5, just four days after celebrating with the team and fans in downtown Los Angeles and at Dodger Stadium.
“We’ve been stuck in rehab every day, and I’ve been sitting on my bed relaxing,” he said through a translator. “We haven’t been able to take some time to celebrate as a family.”
Ohtani didn’t pitch this season while recovering from elbow surgery in September 2023. He injured his shoulder while trying to steal second base during Game 2 of the World Series.
“The goal is to be ready for Opening Day, including hitting and pitching, but we are taking our time,” he said. “I obviously want to make sure I’m healthy first. We’re not rushing anything. We’re going to take a little more time and be cautious.”
Ohtani’s most nerve-wracking moment during his first season with the Dodgers didn’t involve his performance on the field. It was about his beloved dog, Decoy.
“The most nerve-wracking game, the most nervous I was, was when we had Decoy throw out the pitch,” he said.
Just like his owner, Decoy did great, walking from the mound to deliver the ball in his mouth to Ohtani behind the plate. Later, Ohtani homered in the game against Baltimore on his second bobblehead night.
Decoy was with Ohtani on Thursday, appearing briefly on TV while Ohtani, sitting next to his wife Mamiko Tanaka, talked about his MVP award. He called it “very humbling.”
The 30-year-old designated hitter received all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association, making him the first player to win the MVP award unanimously three times. He won twice in the AL with the Los Angeles Angels.
“It’s going to motivate me more to continue to help the team win next year,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “We’d like to continue to win the World Series each year.”
Ohtani is only the second player in MLB history to win the MVP award in both leagues, joining Frank Robinson, who won the NL MVP in 1961 and the AL MVP in 1966.
Ohtani is likely to see a familiar face in the majors soon. Roki Sasaki, a highly rated pitcher, is expected to sign with an MLB team by January. Sasaki and Ohtani were teammates when Japan won the World Baseball Classic in 2023.
“No, I haven’t really been recruiting him in any way,” Ohtani said. “I consider him a friend, so we’ll talk every so often about baseball in general and life. I’ll respect his decision wherever he wants to sign, and I think he’ll do well wherever he goes.”
