After Shohei Ohtani made his longest start of the season against the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the right-hander would pitch again within the team’s first five games coming out of the All-Star break.

Given the state of the Dodgers’ rotation and Clayton Kershaw pitching in the All-Star Game, the assumption was Ohtani would start during the team’s weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

However, the Dodgers instead set Tyler Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan and Kershaw as their probables for the three-game set. Friday’s start start was Glasnow’s second since coming off the 60-day injured list, and Sheehan is back in the rotation after following Ohtani last Saturday.

Kershaw is taking the mound on a traditional rest after retiring both batters he faced in the All-Star Game at Truist Park. That in turn has pushed Ohtani into next week.

Shohei Ohtani’s next start

Roberts announced Ohtani is scheduled to start Monday in the series opener against the Minnesota Twins. He’s expected to pitch three innings, which will match his outing on July 12 at Oracle Park.

Roberts said the belief and early plan then would be for Ohtani to make two consecutive starts of four innings each, followed by a pair of outings at five innings before the Dodgers remove the arrangement of having a starting pitcher follow him.

Dustin May piggyback

Thus far the Dodgers have used Ben Casparius (three times), Justin Wrobleski (once) and Sheehan (once) as a bulk innings pitcher in Ohtani’s starts. But with Sheehan starting Saturday, the Dodgers now are inserting Dustin May into that role.

“Dustin’s done it before, so it’s really not going to be that big of a deal for him,” Roberts said.

While the Dodgers have indicated they will look to lighten May’s workload at some point during the second half, Roberts said his following Ohtani is only a “one off.”

Whether Casparius, Sheehan, Wrobleski, May or otherwise, the team is content with their pitching plan in Ohtani’s starts.

“I think it allows us to get the benefits of both sides in the sense of building Shohei up to then have somebody behind him that it’s not just a typical bullpen game,” Roberts explained.

“We feel whoever it might be on that particular night can take down a majority of the game, and depending on how the game plays out, they can either keep going or we can pivot to leverage guys. In Dustin’s case, we’ve already eclipsed what we would’ve expected at this point in time.

“So to curtail, save, whatever way you want to frame it, here and there, should be of benefit to Dustin, too.”

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