The Los Angeles Dodgers fell 5-4 to the Milwaukee Brewers in their series opener Thursday night.
However, ahead of Friday’s game, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is back in his normal spot in the lineup, batting leadoff, while a major update on his pitching status emerged before the game.
Dodgers Get Ohtani Update
Ohtani hasn’t pitched for the Dodgers since before the All-Star break, but he took a major step forward Friday.
Before the game, Ohtani threw from the rubber for the first time in weeks during a bullpen session.
Shohei Ohtani is throwing a bullpen session today
His first one in more than three weeks
(please forgive the extreme zoom) pic.twitter.com/f2I4LxBax3
— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) August 14, 2026
Ohtani’s Update Last Week
While speaking to the media last week, Ohtani provided an update on his knee injury and explained the steps he needs to complete before returning to the rotation. Throwing from the mound during a bullpen session was one of those steps.
“It’s getting pretty good, day-by-day,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “It’s hard to tell at this point what the schedule’s going to look like because first I need to do plyos and then go into long toss and then go into bullpen progression. So rather than rush the progression of this, I want to make sure that we’re heading in the right direction and taking the right steps.”
Looking at the Dodgers
The Dodgers enter Friday night’s matchup against the Brewers with a 73-49 record, which has them firmly atop the NL West.
They’ll continue their series against Milwaukee throughout the weekend before heading on the road Monday for a series against the Colorado Rockies.
Los Angeles Dodgers Get Shohei Ohtani News During Brewers Series