Why does the return of Shohey Oktani take so much time?

Washington, the district of Colombia – inside the empty stadium, the most popular game factory on Earth, worked.

Shohai Otani went on a long April -day day in the future grass in the National Park. In his footsteps, a small army of coaches and employees of Los -Angeles Dodders. Ohtani, who left 3-in-4 with a home run and triple two days ago, took the ball and began to throw it.

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Two hours before the first step on Wednesday, the yard has not yet opened for the public, and therefore the stands were almost completely vacant. As Okhtani abandoned, the Dodgean Manager Dave Roberts held his daily media session, attracting the attention of a rather large contingent of the club of the club. The only people who look at the Otan, in addition to the crowd of jugs of the dodge, waiting for stretching, were several users of the NAS Park, a handful of well -located members of the media and a guard or two. When Otani sailed to the seats, the opportunistic Asher put the center of the ball in his pocket.

In the end, Otani and his shadow of the Dodders, many of them, in the kit in winter clothes, moved to the vision of the KPZ. There, Japanese Supernova held a brief session of the GRD, throwing about 15 steps per squat. He threw Fastballs and Splatters, but not breaking balls. He smiled at the joy after he revealed a qualitative offer and the martyr when he missed the place.

Without knowing the context, the whole scene could look rather routine for a professional baseball player. But very, very little about Shohai Otan always routine.

Over the past decade, Otan has turned into only power due to his bilateral skill. No one else in all sport both hits and feed, not to mention the elite level of Okhtani. But since in September 2023 an operation was carried out on the elbow, three -time MVP did not receive rubber of the Premier League. Since then, he changed the teams, survived the scandal with gambling, which sent his former translator to prison, won the NL MVP award and seized his first crown of World Series. His glory, already a high sky, multiplied exponentially.

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Nevertheless, his path back to a bilateral lifestyle was not at all simple. As of Thursday, one year, six months and 21 days have passed since he hit the knife on September 19, 2023. Given where Dodgers Dynamo is in the process of recovery, it remains to go.

“I am still on the stage on which I have restrictions on types of species that I can quit and limit the speed,” said Otani media, including Yahoo Sports, through the translator of Will Ireton this week.

Ohtani still has not thrown the ball from the embankment. He did not abandon all his fields with a 100 percent effort. His next major milestone will throw Vatin lively with the attacker, which he almost reached before his throw program was suspended during last year’s play. At the moment, at best, the script can see Oktani in the rotation of the Dodgex in six weeks, but neither the player nor the team offered something resembling the final schedule.

Currently, the overall expectation around Dodgerland is that the return to Ohatani until the end of June looks unlikely. The return around the All-Star rupture in mid-July would have set the total rehabilitation of Oktani after about 22 months, which is much more than the typical recovery of Tommy John. Compare this with a colleague Dodger Tony Gonsoolin, who suffered Tommy John just 19 days before Otan. Gonsoolin, currently in IL due to problem with his back, has begun his first rehabilitation service in the smaller league on September 10, one year and nine days after the operation.

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Nevertheless, it is worth noting: in no case in the process of Dodgers Brass did not use the word “failure” to describe the trajectory of Otani’s restoration.

Why so long? Okhtani almost every moment in his illustrious career blew out past expectations and changed the game to his will. What about this particular process led to the opposite?

An important context: this is the second elbow operation in Okhtan, after he had Tommy John at the end of the 2018 season. Teams often create a more conservative return schedule for players who have already undergone the operation. For example, Jacob Degrom took about 15 months of recovery and rehabilitation until he returned from the second Tommy John last season. Nevertheless, a 20-22-month temporary scale seems a little extreme.

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Another injury, one of which was received during the play -off, can play a role. During the game, the 2nd series “Doders -Liders” forever damaged his left shoulder, sliding into the second base with an attempt to theft. He played through the problem until the end of the autumn classics, but underwent the operation to restore the shoulder in November. This operation would require the rehabilitation process, which almost certainly forced Otan to pause or otherwise reorient his throw program, expanding its schedule even more.

Serious words are undoubtedly also a factor. No other jug ​​in the history of the League tried to return the second operation on the elbow, while acting as a bat at the MVP level as part for each game. Continuing to beat, Okhtani simply cannot concentrate 100 percent of his energy on his rehabilitation. He, like last season, found the pockets of time to throw before the games. And whenever he returns, Otan will play both sides, as he did to participate in his career. But, given his unique situation, it is clear that he and the dooders will play safe.

Dodeders, in particular, their list and their vision, are the last major dynamics here. Thanks to deep pockets and an excellent player development system, existing champions boast of a collection of Mariana starting jugs. Even with Blake Snell on a shelf, in Los -Angeles there is Tyler Glaznov, Yoshinoba Yamamoto, Rocks Sasaki and Dustin in rotation. Depth options such as Landon Knak, Justin Vorbroeski, Ben Kasparius, Nick Franso and Bobby Miller, do not inspire fear, but they provide a valuable layer of pillows. Add the will that returns to Some-Point that the Trio of Gonsoolin, Clayton Kershaw and Emmeta Shihan, and you can understand why the dooders are in no hurry to Ohatani back.

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The crime of the Doders is menacingly enough to overcome the initial performances for passengers, as was the case against Washington. A year ago, this team won 95 games, NL West and World Series, despite the rotating carousel of starting jugs. They are even better in this care. And since the Doders-Clot of Blocking, in order to get into the playoffs, the time of the return of Otan with these most significant games makes great sense.

The only possible concern for Oktani’s strategy in Los -angel is that the player himself will be upset from the methodological approach. This does not seem in any way now. Roberts, describing the level of cooperation between the team with his star, used the word “Lockstep” this week.

Ohtani, through Ireton, reflected this mood: “Dodgex consults with doctors just to make sure that, since this is my second operation, it is very important to be conservative and be thoughtful.”

So, an impatient audience, millions and millions of fans of Otan around the world, you just have to wait a little longer.