By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer

SAN ANTONIO — The Dodgers aren’t counting on Shohei Ohtani to pitch at the start of next season and will wait to see how his rehab progresses following shoulder surgery on his non-pitching arm.

Ohtani had surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.injury occurred Sliding during a stolen base attempt in Game 2 of the World Series The two-way star has not pitched this year while recovering from elbow surgery on Sept. 19, 2023.

“We’re going to take it piece by piece, get through it, and then take it in one-, two-week chunks and make sure we’re in a really good place on each of those benchmarks, and then go from there,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said at their annual GM Meeting on Wednesday. “Don’t try to say, ‘Hey, we need to be ready by this day,'” he said. “We’ll let the rehabilitation process continue.”

The Dodgers will reopen their season overseas with two highly anticipated games against the Chicago Cubs in Japan, but that almost certainly means Ohtani is unlikely to play in those games.

After signing a record 10-year contract worth $700 million, the 30-year-old Ohtani hit .310 with 54 homers, 130 RBIs and 59 stolen bases, becoming the first player with at least 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season.

“I think it’s safe for him not to steal 50 bases next year,” Gomes said. “I have a hunch. I don’t want to count that because I would never bet against Shohei.

Gomes said left-hander Clayton Kershaw had surgery on Wednesday but couldn’t go into details. because the three-time Cy Young Award winner was a free agent.

He also said All-Star Mookie Betts will likely return to the field next year and that the World Series champions are looking to reach a new contract with Manager Dave Roberts, whose current deal runs through next season.

Ohtani, the team’s head physician, Dr. He was operated on by Neal ElAttrache.

“The rehabilitation phases have different low-intensity exercises and it can be just movement,” Gomes said. “Our trainers, performance coaches and doctors are working in lockstep on this and we will be with him along the way.”

Ohtani halted the launch program.

“He was probably going to stop pitching in the offseason, but he needs to recover from that and then get back up,” Gomes said.

The Dodgers expect right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Tyler Glasnow to be ready for opening day. Yamamoto was out of action between June 15 and September 10 due to a right triceps strain. Glasnow did not pitch after August 11 due to right elbow tendinitisGonsolin spent all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery and May did not pitch this year After elbow and esophagus surgeries.

bets He spent the first 72 games of the 2024 season at center back after splitting time between second base and right field the previous season. He fractured his left hand on a pitch on June 16 and rotated to the right when he returned on August 12, as the team needed production off the field. His return to the court is a product of trying to preserve his body and the desire of the 32-year-old eight-time All-Star.

“It’s not a sure thing but I think it’s really difficult just for the cost of the outfield and the players bouncing back and forth,” Gomes said. “It could be second, it could be short. We don’t really know yet. We will have more in-depth discussions soon and gain some clarity on this issue. “The beauty of Mookie is that he’s the most selfless superstar we’ve ever seen.”

The Dodgers could re-sign free-agent outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who spent 2024 as a left fielder but is a natural right fielder, though not a six-time Gold Glove winner like Betts.