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

Shohei Ohtani told MLB.com's Brian Murphy that he "definitely" plans to pitch in the 2027 season, offering the clearest public signal yet that the Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way star intends to resume mound duties after injuries cut short his pitching in 2026.

What happened

Per Brian Murphy's report for MLB.com, Ohtani stated he "definitely" plans to pitch in 2027. The qualifier matters: this is Ohtani's own stated intention, not a medical clearance or a club announcement. What the report does establish is that the final 3 months of the 2026 season passed without Ohtani pitching, the result of injuries that sidelined him from that role. The Dodgers have not issued a formal announcement regarding his pitching timeline or health status beyond what Ohtani himself offered.

The word "definitely" is doing real work here. It is the kind of declarative that two-way players — a category that, in practical terms, currently has a population of one at the major-league level — deploy carefully, because the sport has a long memory for optimistic offseason projections. Ohtani said it anyway.

Why it matters

The operational stakes are considerable. When Ohtani pitches, the Dodgers carry one of the most disruptive weapons in the sport: a starter who also functions as one of their most productive hitters. When he does not pitch, they still have one of the most productive hitters in the sport — but the rotation calculus changes entirely.

That calculus is already the defining question of the Dodgers' offseason. A week removed from the end of their postseason run, the club is navigating what to do with Tarik Skubal, whom they acquired from the Tigers ahead of the August 3 trade deadline, parting with three prospects in the process. Per prior Posterior Wire reporting, Skubal's future with the club is the biggest question of their offseason. Ohtani's pitching status sits directly alongside it: the answer to one shapes the answer to the other.

If Ohtani returns to the rotation in 2027, the Dodgers' starting pitching picture looks meaningfully different than if he does not. That is not a prediction — it is the mechanical reality of how roster construction works when one player can occupy two roles simultaneously.

The numbers

The Dodgers finished 2026 at 100-62 (.617), sitting first in the NL West and riding a three-game winning streak into the offseason. That record reflects a club that won at a high rate even through the stretch in which Ohtani was not contributing from the mound — a useful data point for understanding both how good this team is and how much additional upside a healthy, pitching Ohtani could represent.

Where the club stands

Los Angeles closed the 2026 regular season at 100-62 (.617), first in the NL West. The three-game winning streak the club carried into the postseason underscores a roster that performed at an elite level across the full year. The offseason now begins in earnest, and it is arriving with some notable roster movement already in motion.

Miguel Rojas announced his retirement from MLB following the end of the Dodgers' postseason run, per prior Posterior Wire reporting. Separately, catcher Ben Rortvedt elected minor league free agency after being outrighted off the Dodgers' 40-man roster in September. Neither move reshapes the competitive core of the club, but they are the kind of quiet offseason transactions that tend to accumulate in the weeks after a season ends — the organizational equivalent of clearing the whiteboard before the real decisions get made.

The real decisions, in this case, involve the rotation. Skubal's status, Ohtani's pitching health, and whatever the front office does in free agency and trade markets will collectively define what the 2027 Dodgers look like on the mound. Ohtani's statement to MLB.com is the first piece of that puzzle to land publicly.

What we don't know yet

Ohtani's stated intention to pitch in 2027 is exactly that — a stated intention. MLB.com's report does not include a medical update, a specific timetable, or any club announcement about his health status. The nature of the injuries that kept him off the mound for the final 3 months of 2026 has not been detailed in the material available to this desk.

It is also worth noting what the report does not say: it does not say the Dodgers have cleared him to pitch, that a return date has been set, or that any formal evaluation has been completed. Ohtani's confidence is on the record. The medical picture behind it is not.

What to watch

### Does Ohtani's pitching timeline affect how the Dodgers approach the Skubal decision?

The two questions are almost certainly connected, though the club has not said so publicly. If Ohtani is expected to contribute meaningful innings in 2027, the calculus around retaining or extending Skubal shifts. If his return to pitching carries significant uncertainty, the Dodgers may weigh Skubal's presence differently. Per prior Posterior Wire reporting, Skubal's future with the club is already the central offseason question — Ohtani's statement adds another variable to that equation without resolving it.

Watch for any formal club communication about Ohtani's health status as the offseason progresses. A player saying he "definitely" plans to do something is news; a club announcing a timeline or a medical update would be a different category of news entirely. The Dodgers have not provided the latter yet.

The broader two-way question also lingers at the edges of this story. Ohtani has operated at the intersection of pitching and hitting in a way no player in the modern era has sustained, and the 2026 season — in which injuries removed him from the mound for 3 months — is a reminder of how fragile that balance can be. His intention to restore it in 2027 is the most consequential thing any Dodger said this week. Whether the body cooperates is the part nobody can answer in October.