The Los Angeles Dodgers win again. In the series finale against the New York Mets, the reigning World Series champions secure their 14th win and complete the sweep in a Shohei Ohtani pitching masterclass.
Despite giving up his first earned run of the season, Ohtani went six innings with 10 strikeouts, two walks, and two hits allowed. His fastball reached 100 mph and was in full control during his masterpiece.
Normally, Ohtani has little to no downtime in-between innings, as he is the Dodgers leadoff hitter. However, this outing was a little different.
Hours before the batting order was announced, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, revealed that Ohtani’s focus will only be on pitching tonight. The last time Ohtani did not hit while pitching was on May 28, 2021 with the Los Angeles Angels.
While the rest between innings seemed to do Ohtani a favor, the two-way superstar felt rather caught off guard that he would be left out of the batting order.
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Shohei Ohtani Initially Shocked By Hitting Decision
Heading into the game, Ohtani had an active 48-game on-base steak. One of the Dodgers hottest hitters, and a player you expect to see in the lineup.
But after a hit-by-pitch on Monday from Mets starting pitcher David Peterson, Ohtani went cold. He was 0-7 following the at-bat.
“If it weren’t for the hit-by-pitch,” Dave Roberts said in a pre-game press conference, “he would’ve been DHing and pitching tonight.”
After Wednesday’s game, Ohtani opened up about his initial reaction getting sidelined offensively:
“After getting hit by a pitch, Doc thought that it was a good idea for me, and for the team, to just focus on the pitching side of the game,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton, “I was a little surprised, but it made sense hearing what he had to say.”
He was later asked about how it felt being able to manage his time between innings.
“In between innings felt a little longer than normal,” Ohtani said “That was really the only difference that I really felt, aside from that, I felt really good.”
While shaky at times, this was arguably Ohtani’s best outing of 2026. It leaves a lingering question amongst Dodgers fans whether or not Ohtani will apart of the batting order on nights he pitches.
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Dave Roberts Confirms If Shohei Ohtani Will Return To DH On Friday
While left out of the lineup on Wednesday, Ohtani will find his way back into the batting order on Friday, Dave Roberts confirmed in a post-game press conference.
“Yes, he will,” Roberts said jokingly in response to Ohtani earning his DH spot back. “He will be in there on Friday. Certainly, a really good showing by Dalton [Rushing] in the DH spot. I thought it was a good decision to have Shohei focus on pitching, he did a heck of a job tonight.”
Roberts highlighted that it was nice to see Ohtani focus on one aspect of his game at a time on Wednesday.
“I thought that channeling all that energy into pitching was helpful,” Roberts said. “The last couple outings, I felt that he was fighting a little bit of times, but tonight he was really, really good.”
While the Dodgers usually expect to take a hit with Ohtani out of the batting order, his spot was taken care of nicely by Dalton Rushing.
The 25-year-old had big shoes to fill and did so famously. Rushing crushed a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning, and a double in the second.
Rushing has upped his batting average to .529 through 17 at-bats, and has an OBP of .556 and OPS of 1.909.
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