The 2024 World Sequence between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers will start with Recreation 1 on Friday night time at Dodger Stadium. Thursday, nonetheless, was reserved for media availability, throughout which Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts was requested the query that he is presumably grown uninterested in answering over the past month-plus: may he envision any state of affairs that might see two-way star Shohei Ohtani, sidelined from pitching since present process elbow surgical procedure a 12 months in the past, take the mound this sequence?

Predictably, Roberts answered the identical manner that he and different key Dodgers personnel have when requested that query at varied factors over the previous month: no.

“There is not any risk, none by any means,” Roberts mentioned. “Thanks for asking.”

Maybe Roberts has himself responsible for the barrage of questions on Ohtani’s pitching availability. Again in September, Roberts was requested throughout a radio interview about Ohtani returning to the mound in October. On the time, he mentioned “you need to at all times go away some margin, a crack within the door for any risk.”

Roberts and the Dodgers have since slammed that door repeatedly. To wit, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman mentioned on September 20: “We aren’t even fascinated about that proper now. Once more, that is like January for him. He is simply barely a 12 months out from Tommy John.” On the time, Ohtani was persevering with to progress in his rehab however, as Friedman famous, remained a methods aside from being able to carry out in sport motion.

Ohtani, 30, is within the first season of the 10-year pact he signed with the Dodgers final winter. As such, the Dodgers have each motive to take the lengthy view right here with respect to his well being and his future on the bump.

Apart from, it isn’t as if Ohtani will present the Dodgers with zero manufacturing through the World Sequence. He hit .310/.390/.646 (190 OPS+) with 54 dwelling runs, 130 runs batted in, and 59 stolen bases through the common season, and he is saved up his torrid hitting in 11 postseason video games to this point by posting a .934 OPS with three dwelling runs.

Examine again subsequent week when Roberts is invariably requested once more about Ohtani pitching this sequence.