Shohei Ohtani had another efficient start on Saturday as he logged two scoreless innings in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-4 loss to the Houston Astros.
The two-way star faced the minimum in the first inning after inducing a ground-ball double play to erase a leadoff single. He then capped off his outing by striking out the side in the second for the time as a Dodgers pitcher.
“Very impressed,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “I think the stuff continues to get better, the command, the feel for making pitches. I think it’s nice to see that he doesn’t have to throw it as hard as he can.
“I think it’s just more of a controlled fastball, controlled stuff, and really efficient. Got the double play in that first inning, which is great. And I think that looking at the next one, we’ll have a discussion on how much, what we expect of him. But really, really impressed at how he’s continued to get better and better each time out.”
Ohtani got through his two innings on only 31 pitches, which coincidentally came on his 31st birthday. He could have potentially thrown as many as 40 pitches in the start, but the Dodgers remained committed to their plan that was outlined with Ohtani’s input heading into the start.
“I think that we’re not in a place where we can just kind of let him go. So it was two innings, very efficient with the pitches, but I wanted to stick to that today,” Roberts noted.
Roberts did change his stance from prior comments and expressed a hope for Ohtani to eventually build up to five or six innings by season’s end.
“Don’t know when that’s going to be. But yeah, I could see it as a natural progression to get to that point,” he said.
Shohei Ohtani’s pitching plan
Ohtani’s start against the Astros was his second in a row throwing two innings. As for when he may be extended to three innings, Ohtani said he is carefully following the plan he and the Dodgers have worked on.
“In my rehab progression, it’s really important to just take one step at a time,” Ohtani explained through interpreter Will Ireton. “There are times when I may be able to go another inning, but it’s really important not to take unnecessary risks and make sure that I can progress consistently.
“It’s always been this way in terms of my rehab progression, so I’m following what the team is also asking me, as well.”
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