The Dodgers are scheduled to begin spring training play Thursday against the Chicago Cubs at their Camelback Ranch training facility in Glendale, Arizona, but without Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.

Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior is impressed from what he sees from Shohei Ohtani in the two-way player's first bullpen session of the spring.

The decision is partly a matter of comfort, with Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto accustomed to pitching essentially once a week dating back to their time in Japan. It also factored prominently, the Dodgers believe, into their ability to land phenom Roki Sasaki this winter — like his countrymen, Sasaki is used to pitching on a once-per-week schedule.