Shohei Ohtani says he 'definitely' plans to pitch in 2027

What happened

Shohei Ohtani told MLB.com's Brian Murphy that he "definitely" plans to pitch in the 2027 season, a direct statement of intent following a 2026 campaign in which injuries kept him off the mound for the final 3 months.

The remarks arrive in the immediate wake of the Dodgers' postseason exit, with Ohtani having already described 2026 as an injury-plagued year — a characterization he offered publicly after the NLCS, per prior Posterior Wire reporting. That he is now attaching the word "definitely" to a pitching return is the clearest signal yet that he views the mound absence as circumstantial rather than permanent.

Why it matters

The two-way question has followed Ohtani since he arrived in the major leagues, and it has never fully gone away even in seasons when the answer seemed obvious. When a player of his profile misses 3 months of pitching in a single season, the natural follow-up — will he pitch again? — becomes the loudest question in any offseason room. He answered it himself, directly, to MLB.com.

Operationally, the distinction matters enormously for how the Dodgers construct their roster and rotation heading into 2027. A healthy, pitching Ohtani is a different planning problem than an Ohtani deployed exclusively as a hitter and designated hitter. The club has not made any announcement about how it intends to use him, and nothing in the material speaks to a specific role, workload, or timeline beyond his own stated intention.

It is also worth noting the context in which this statement lands. The Dodgers are a franchise currently sorting through a layered offseason: Miguel Rojas announced his retirement following the postseason run, and the future of Tarik Skubal — acquired from the Tigers ahead of the August 3 trade deadline in exchange for three prospects — remains the largest unresolved question on the pitching side, per prior Posterior Wire reporting. Ohtani's pitching plans, if they materialize, would reshape that conversation considerably.

Is Ohtani healthy enough to pitch?

He has not said so, and neither has the club. What Ohtani said, per Brian Murphy's reporting for MLB.com, is that he plans to pitch — not that he is cleared, not that a timetable has been set, and not that the injury that cost him 3 months on the mound has been resolved. The plan and the health status are two different things, and only one of them was addressed on the record.

The general mechanics of the injured list are worth understanding here: pitchers and two-way players are subject to a 15-day IL minimum, with a 60-day IL available for more significant absences that remove a player from the 40-man count. A pitcher returning from a lengthy absence is also eligible for a rehab assignment of up to 30 days before a roster decision must be made. None of those specifics have been attached to Ohtani's situation by the club or by MLB.com's reporting — they are simply the framework through which any such return would eventually be processed.

The numbers

The Dodgers finished the 2026 regular season at 100-62 (.617), first in the NL West. That record reflects a club that won at an elite rate even while navigating the injury complications Ohtani described publicly after the NLCS. The postseason run extended the season further before the exit that prompted his reflections on the year.

Where the club stands

Los Angeles enters the offseason at 100-62 (.617), sitting atop the NL West and riding a three-game winning streak into the break. The roster picture is already shifting: Rojas's retirement removes a veteran presence from the infield, and the Skubal situation — whether the club retains the left-hander acquired at the deadline — remains publicly unresolved, per prior Posterior Wire reporting. Ohtani's pitching intentions, now stated plainly to MLB.com, add another dimension to what is shaping up as a consequential winter for the organization.

What we don't know yet

Ohtani's statement is a plan, not a medical clearance. The nature of the injury that kept him off the mound for the final 3 months of 2026 has not been detailed in the available reporting. No timetable for a return to pitching has been reported. The Dodgers have not announced any specific role or workload plan for him in 2027. And the broader roster picture — including what happens with Skubal — remains open.

What MLB.com's Brian Murphy reported is the intention. The infrastructure around that intention, from health status to spring preparation to rotation construction, is still to come.

What to watch

The first thing to watch is whether the Dodgers or Ohtani's representatives offer any additional detail on the injury that shortened his 2026 pitching season. A stated plan to return is meaningful; a medical update would tell you how realistic that plan is on any particular timeline.

Beyond that, the Skubal situation is the adjacent story. If the Dodgers retain the left-hander they gave up three prospects to acquire, and if Ohtani does return to pitching, the rotation math becomes genuinely interesting. If Skubal departs, the pressure on Ohtani's return intensifies in a different way. Neither outcome has been reported — but Ohtani's "definitely" just made both scenarios more consequential to track.

The offseason is early. The word "definitely" is doing a lot of work right now, and it was Ohtani's word to use. The desk will be watching to see what fills in around it.