Complicating Ohtani's return to pitching is the fact that the Dodgers aren't going to want to lose him as a DH for a single game. Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes has said Ohtani will be going straight from simulated games to real MLB games, bypassing a rehab assignment in the minors.

The Dodgers are hopeful that the real challenge for Shohei Ohtani this year won't be about his health, but rather his process of re-acclimating to the two-way role that made him a superstar.