Dodgers expect Shohei Ohtani to pitch again soon, a potential pivot toward another NL MVP run

Shohei Ohtani’s next step toward pitching again has become one of the most consequential storylines in the National League. USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale reports the Dodgers expect Ohtani to take his return soon, as long as nothing unexpected interrupts the plan. For a franchise built around October expectations, the difference between Ohtani as a hitter and Ohtani as a two-way weapon is often the difference between “good” and “historic,” especially in a playoff race decided by small margins.

Ohtani’s potential re-entry as a pitcher does more than add innings. It also changes how opponents must prepare. Once a pitcher-hitter is fully integrated back into a rotation plan, the scouting workload expands and bullpen leverage becomes more delicate, because teams can no longer treat the matchup as a single-dimensional advantage. The Dodgers, by extension, regain a high-end tool that can compress game plans in their favor.

The MVP angle is central to why this matters. Nightengale’s reporting frames Ohtani’s pitching return as something that could create a clearer path to another National League MVP award. In typical MVP voting, narratives that combine dominance across multiple skill sets tend to hold up under scrutiny, and a return to mound performance can tighten the statistical and storytelling case. Even when voters weigh an overall season, the timing and perceived impact of a late-season pitching stretch often influence how campaigns are understood.

It is important to treat the “soon” as conditional. The report emphasizes expectations rather than guarantees, with any setbacks capable of pushing the timeline. In MLB, return-from-mound decisions are rarely linear, and the gap between progress and a setback can be measured in days rather than weeks. Until the Dodgers provide additional confirmation and clarity on workload, fans should view this as a developing plan, not a final timetable.

For the Dodgers, the practical question becomes how Ohtani fits into the team’s late-season rhythm, particularly with the calendar closing in on playoff positioning. A two-way return can influence rotation planning, bullpen usage patterns, and the timing of when the club feels most comfortable pushing intensity. For teammates, it can also recalibrate roles, because lineup construction changes when a player’s in-game threat profile includes both pitching and hitting lanes.

For the NL MVP race, Ohtani’s return could force attention back to a familiar question: whether a player can reclaim “most valuable” territory by adding pitching value without sacrificing the offensive baseline already associated with him. If he is able to log mound work at the level voters expect, the conversation can tighten quickly, with his candidacy increasingly tied to impact rather than potential.

What to watch next is straightforward: any formal update on the Dodgers’ pitching plan for Ohtani, how soon he is moved into a pitching role, and whether the team describes the return as progressing without interruption. In the meantime, the report sets the stage for a late-season arc in which both the Dodgers’ postseason ceiling and Ohtani’s MVP case could rise together, assuming the timeline holds.