SAN DIEGO — Shohei Ohtani took a significant step in his pitching progression early Tuesday afternoon, firing 44 pitches over the course of three simulated innings from Petco Park. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts later said there is a “north of zero” chance Ohtani joins the team’s rotation before the All-Star break.

At this point, at least, Ohtani seems more likely to return as a pitcher in July as opposed to August, the latter of which previously seemed like the more logical target. The biggest reason, outside of how impressed Dodgers officials have been with Ohtani’s command despite a near two-year hiatus from pitching: The extra roster spot afforded to them.

Ohtani carries a “two-way player” designation, which, according to a rule established by Major League Baseball in 2019, allows him to pitch without counting toward a team’s 13-pitcher limit. As the 14th pitcher, the Dodgers are afforded the luxury of bringing Ohtani back before he is fully stretched out like a traditional starter. In other words, they can initially have Ohtani make two- to three-inning starts and have another pitcher lined up behind him to serve as essentially a piggyback starter.

“It certainly doesn’t have to be a full buildup,” Roberts said, “because anything that he can give us is certainly additive.”

Roberts added, though, that Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed the second repair of Ohtani’s ulnar collateral ligament in September 2023, and the Dodgers’ athletic training staff will continue to set the pace of his recovery. The team will continue to adjust accordingly — like it did by pushing Ohtani’s latest session back a day because he fouled a ball off his foot in St. Louis on Sunday.

An added layer is the Dodgers’ pitching situation. Fourteen of them are currently on the injured list, including four starters who were expected to be counted on heavily in 2025 — Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and, more recently, Tony Gonsolin. Snell and Glasnow each threw a bullpen session Tuesday, but both still need to build back up.

“It’s tempting,” Roberts said of bringing Ohtani back to the rotation sooner. “I’m sure Shohei is tempted to just rip the Band-Aid off for a big league game. But I think we’ve done a good job of just being patient. And truth be told, I don’t know if anyone knows the right time to get him in a big league game. But we’re still being very careful.”

Ohtani began his pitching progression last year, while becoming the first full-time designated hitter to win an MVP, then basically shut it down for the postseason.

The Dodgers’ hopes of having Ohtani restart his throwing progression relatively early in the winter were scrapped when he tore a labrum in his left shoulder during Game 2 of the World Series, requiring offseason surgery. Spring training essentially qualified as Ohtani’s offseason throwing program. He then shut it down leading up to the March 18 opener in Japan and picked it back up when the Dodgers returned to the United States.

Ohtani faced hitters for the first time at Citi Field on May 25, throwing 22 pitches. Six days later, he threw 29. Ten days after that, he increased his output to 44. Ohtani struck out six batters, issued a walk and allowed a ground ball up the middle that would have probably gone for a single while facing a couple of Dodgers minor leaguers. Ohtani, 30, also went through game-specific elements like pitching from the stretch, incorporating a slide step and using the pitch clock. Roberts said his fastball “had life” and that his sweeper was “really good.”

Ohtani will continue to take part in simulated games every week or so, with a light bullpen session in between, until the Dodgers determine he is ready to join their rotation.

Said Roberts: “I’m just anxious for the next one.”