The Los Angeles Dodgers have been careful with Shohei Ohtani’s workload, and that will continue this series.
Los Angeles is in the midst of a four-game home series against the San Francisco Giants, and Ohtani is scheduled to pitch on Wednesday. With that, Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts revealed Ohtani won’t be in the lineup on Thursday, and it’s uncertain if he will hit on Wednesday when he makes his start.
“Shohei Ohtani won’t be in lineup on Thursday, per manager Roberts. Dodgers are still deciding if he’ll hit Wednesday during his start. Ohtani remains in Tuesday’s lineup,” Underdog MLB wrote on X.
The Dodgers have rested Ohtani the day after starts before, so this will be nothing new for the two-way superstar. However, it does hurt the Dodgers lineup as Ohtani is arguably the top hitter in baseball.
Ohtani is hitting .233 with 6 home runs and 16 RBIs, while on the mound, he’s 2-2 with a 0.97 ERA in 6 starts.
Dodgers Manager Explains Ohtani Decision
Ohtani has been struggling at the plate as of late, and the team is planning to give him potentially back-to-back days off.
Roberts believes pitching takes a lot out of Ohtani, so he wants to make sure the Japanese star can recover properly.
“I think it’s just more of, kind of thinking that it might just be a good thing to take a little bit of a load off his plate offensively,” Roberts said. “Letting his body recover a little bit, as far as (not) being a two-way player for a couple days. Playing more of the longer view, potentially giving him a reset on the offensive side.”
Ohtani has been struggling at the plate as entering Tuesday’s game he’s in a 4-for-38 slump over his last 11 games, and has batted just .200 over the last month overall.
“I think the fatigue (of his workload) is bleeding into the mechanics (of his hitting),” Roberts said. “I think that most players get that towards the end of the summer. And now I’m learning, managing Shohei, it has probably shown itself a little earlier, as far as the tax on pitching and all that comes with it to the hitting too.”
Roberts believes the days off will not only help Ohtani on the mound, but also refind his groove at the plate.
Ohtani Will Have a Unique Schedule
Ohtani will take the mound for the Dodgers on Wednesday, and in the series finale, his schedule will be different.
The Dodgers said Ohtani won’t be in the lineup that game already, so Roberts wants the two-way player to show up at the ballpark much later than normal. And, instead of doing practice, he wants Ohtani to rest and recover and potentially be a pinch-hit option late in the game.
“He’s always gonna want to do more. He always has that sense of responsibility to his teammates, that he wants to be out there both ways,” Roberts said. “So I’ve learned that I have to be proactive and take it out of his hands, like most great players.”
The Dodgers will look to get back on track on Tuesday after losing the first game of the series to the Giants on Monday by a score of 9-3.
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