Photo: Meg Oliphant
Dave Roberts: "Shohei Ohtani will DH. He's taking dry swings now, and his goal is to be ready by Opening Day. I hope that holds, but he's going to be ready when he's going to be ready. This guy is so uber-competitive. You know the humility is there, you know the talent is there, but I didn't appreciate the real drive. He will be ready at some point, as far as hitting, and the pitching is going to be picked up next year."
Dan Patrick: "You're planning on him being a two-way player after this year?"
Dave Roberts: "Absolutely. There was even a little talk with Shohei about, come September, when he can pick up a baseball and throw, would he be open to taking some balls out there in left field. And he said 'if it works, and my arm feels ok, I'm open to it.' So we'll see, but we've got a lot of time until we get to that point."
Dodgers M Dave Roberts joins The Dan Patrick Show! Roberts talks about his newest superstar Shohei Ohtani and gives his expectations on a timeline for Ohtani to return to his full two-way player status as he recovers from surgery. Roberts gives insight on the team's pursuit of Ohtani, dating back to 2016, and reveals how he learned Ohtani was officially joining the team. Dave shares his thoughts on the soon-to-be-newest Dodger Tyler Glasnow and discusses the team's pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto.