rewrite this title Dodgers manager believes Shohei Ohtani is ahead of schedule

Usually, there is a look all pitchers have at this point in the season.

They may be a little off, and their timing is not quite there. The command fluctuates in and out. Nobody really cares that much, because it is spring training, after all. The idea is to work through it and to build up.

Dave Roberts expected some rust

That is what Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was anticipating from Shohei Ohtani.

After a game against the San Francisco Giants earlier this week, Roberts said: “I thought he would be a little more rusty… the breaking ball was good… the fastball command… working ahead in the count.”

That is not supposed to be how a pitcher looks in March.

Instead, Ohtani threw five scoreless innings for the Dodgers. He gave up one hit. He did not really look challenged at any point. He looked comfortable and in command.

There is a difference between a pitcher getting his work in and a pitcher throwing. Ohtani looked like he was throwing.

Roberts also made it clear that at this point, he is past being surprised. 

“You don’t ever underestimate what Shohei’s going to do,” he said. “He’s always going to deliver.”

If this is how spring training is going to go for Ohtani, then there will be a shorter build-up for him at the start of the season. You could see during the game against the Giants that hitters were struggling with the speed from Ohtani, and they were not taking the good stuff out over the middle of the plate. Even the balls they were putting in play were weak ground balls. 

Ohtani is still not satisfied

It also lined up with Ohtani’s own self-assessment: After he finished his outing, he was complaining about how he did not finish off hitters and that he needed to be better. He did not throw the pitches he wanted at the right times. He is looking at the negatives when everything about the numbers is good, and it should be fine.

It is a luxury the Dodgers have-they do not need to push Ohtani through anything with this much talent in the bullpen and everyday lineup. You would have expected a little rust, but instead, he had what looked like some actual sharpness that should continue to be refined and brought to full game strength for opening day.

The finished version of Ohtani will be scary

That is really what stands out here. It is not just that Ohtani looked sharp. It is that the version of him that most players spend weeks trying to reach already showed up, and he still walked away thinking it was not good enough. Roberts expected rust and instead saw command, rhythm, and control. Ohtani saw room for improvement. Somewhere in the middle is the part the rest of the league should be paying attention to, because if this is what the early version looks like, the finished one is not going to be much fun to deal with.