Shohei Ohtani has but to seem in a Cactus League recreation with the Dodgers, though he’s anticipated to within the coming week. Freddie Freeman also mentioned on Saturday that the order of the first three of the line of Dodgers in a few daysWhen these two plus Mookie Betts all begin collectively.
Till now, we've solely been restricted to glimpses of Ohtani within the batter's field on the backfields at Camelback Ranch. It was a terrific present both means.
Ohtani's energy has been evident over the previous three seasons, when he hit 124 dwelling runs, together with main the American League with 44 lengthy balls with the Angels in 2023. A number of the Dodgers who labored with Ohtani in Dodger Stadium from December even have their very own tales of his prowess on the plate.
Jordan Shusterman at Yahoo Sports activities spoke with a number of Dodgers about Ohtani, together with minor league catcher Dalton Dashing:
“I take my swings, and to place it in perspective, I think about myself to have extra juice,” Dashing, a gifted catcher who hit 23 homers in 64 video games as a junior at Louisville en path to changing into the Dodgers' first-round choose . in 2022 MLB Draft, he informed Yahoo Sports activities. “And if I do the flips, I can sit within the 100-103 [mph exit velocity] vary, possibly 104.
“Then Shohei jumps into the cage, and… me and [Gavin] Lux is sitting there watching. First flip, 104 off the bat. And we have a look at one another like, “Is he human? Who’s what?” Two extra flips: 106, 108. And he's simply beginning to go up. He's as much as 110 in flips. I don't suppose he's hit a softer ball than 102 off flips.
“It's a unicorn.”
A part of Yoshinobu Yamamoto's coaching routine contains throwing javelins as a technique to put together for his supply on the mountain. Lindsey Adler on the Wall Avenue Journal took benefit of the Dodgers' new pitcher.
Gavin Stone pitched an ideal inning in Friday's begin in Peoria to kick off the Dodgers' spring coaching schedule. He then spoke with reporters concerning the steps he has taken since he struggled within the majors in 2023, permitting 32 runs (31 earned runs) in 31 innings.
From Stone, per Juan Toribio at MLB.com: “Failure sucks. So that you do every part you possibly can to not really feel that feeling once more. That's what this offseason has been about, so that you don't really feel it once more.”
Stone mentioned he added a cutter and two-seam fastball whereas in Triple-A after the All-Star break final season. From Invoice Plunkett on the Orange County Register:
“Final 12 months on the finish of the 12 months particularly in Triple-A, these actually helped quite a bit. With the ability to refine these, getting command of these this 12 months can be big.”
