On the eve of Shohei Ohtani facing batters for the first time since elbow surgery in September 2023, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the two-way star likely won’t return to a major league mound until after the All-Star break. Ohtani is to pitch batting practice before Sunday night’s series finale against the New York Mets. Roberts says “he’s doing his first simulated game for two innings and in theory you got to build a starter up to five, six innings.” He adds: “And so just the natural progression, I just don’t see it being before that.”