Dave Roberts says the Los Angeles Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani have discussed the possibility of the superstar playing in the outfield this coming season.

Ohtani will not pitch in 2024 after undergoing elbow surgery in September.

"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?" Roberts said on the Dan Patrick Show.

"[Ohtani] 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 before we get to that point," the manager added.

Teams tend to give their pitchers about 14 months these days to recover from Tommy John surgery, but position players often face shorter recovery timetables. Bryce Harper was back in the lineup just 160 days after his own surgery. 

However, it remains to be seen if Ohtani did actually undergo Tommy John surgery.