LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani continued a methodical progression of his throwing program, throwing a 30-pitch bullpen session on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, working his way back from elbow surgery in September 2023.

“It was four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, and his split. Command was really good. He came out of it well,” manager Dave Roberts said, adding that Ohtani was around 90-92 mph. “It’s just going to continue to build up, build on that, then we’ll see where we go from there.”

It’s the third consecutive Saturday bullpen session for Ohtani, keeping in line with a roughly weekly schedule that mimics what will be his role once he eventually joins the Dodgers rotation. But there’s some time until Ohtani gets to that point, as he hasn’t yet stretched out to multiple innings or faced hitters, let alone mixed in pitches other than his fastballs and splitter.

“We’ve still got a lot of time,” Roberts said.

A more immediate need will come at the end of the current homestand, with the Rockies in town next week. The Dodgers don’t play on starting Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Roki Sasaki on fewer than five days rest, and with every Thursday off in April that essentially lines them up as weekend starters all month.

But it also leaves an open spot in the rotation, after Dustin May and Landon Knack start the first two games against Colorado.

“We’ve got to backfill,” Roberts said. “We’re going to get somebody here on Wednesday.”

The Dodgers were in similar situations last week, needing to fill both Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington D.C. against the Nationals. Justin Wrobleski was called up to start Tuesday but was optioned Wednesday, meaning he can’t return to the majors before April 24 unless replacing an injured player.

Bobby Miller is the most stretched-out starting pitcher on the 40-man roster still in the minors, having pitched 4⅔ innings and five innings in his first two starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. On Friday, the Comets pulled Miller in the third inning of a scoreless start at only 55 pitches, the kind of thing you would do to leave more gas in the tank for five days later.

When I started to ask if Miller getting pulled was related to Wednesday’s rotation, Roberts feigned ignorance.

“Was he?” Roberts said. “That’s interesting. That’s interesting.”

See you on Wednesday, Bobby.