GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Shohei Ohtani is back on the attack, and Roki Sasaki is getting close.
Ohtani, the unanimous 2024 National League MVP after the first 50-homer/50-stolen base season in Major League history, took his first live batting practice of the spring Sunday.
Ohtani saw 32 pitches from Minor League right-hander Nicolas Cruz and took 18 swings, facing live pitching for the first time since undergoing surgery Nov. 5 to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder suffered in the World Series.
“Shohei looked good," manager Dave Roberts said. "He got a lot of swings off. He said he felt good afterward. He hit a couple of balls hard, which is good to see. I’m excited that he got to face some pitchers. We are still on track for [the] end of next week that he will be in a game DHing."
Right-hander Sasaki, MLB Pipeline's No. 1 overall prospect, meanwhile, threw about 30 pitches in his second bullpen session of the spring, which was held in the indoor cages at Camelback Ranch.
“We threw him in a cage and got some technology on him, just to kind of get a baseline for him,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said. “It's something that we do with all of our pitchers, all the way through, up and down through the organization.”
Ohtani will make his first appearance in a Spring Training game later this week, manager Dave Roberts said, although a firm date has not been set. He will be in the lineup in the Tokyo Series against the Cubs from March 18-19, where Sasaki is expected to start the second game.
Sasaki is scheduled to make his first spring appearance Tuesday against the White Sox in what Prior called a “hybrid B-game,” as Minor League camps have not opened. Blake Snell is to start the Dodgers’ Cactus League game that day.
“These first couple weeks [are] really both of us trying to get to know each other and then try[ing] to progress from there,” Prior said of Sasaki. “Get him dialed in with some things that he wants to work on.”