Shohei Ohtani was hit by a pitch on the back his right shoulder during the first inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ series opener against the New York Mets on Monday night.
Ohtani was in visible pain after being hit by a 94 mph sinker from David Peterson, but stayed in and seemingly finished the game without incident. He was later seen with a bandage on his shoulder inside the clubhouse after the game.
Ohtani is scheduled to be the Dodgers’ starting pitcher on Wednesday, and manager Dave Roberts doesn’t expect that to be impacted after the two-way star was hit on his throwing shoulder.
“No, no. I’m happy he’s not pitching [Tuesday],” Roberts said. “Probably a bruise, but I don’t think it’s going to impact his start.”
Ohtani has made two pitching starts this season, throwing a combined 12 innings without allowing an earned run while striking out eight and walking four.
Last season, Ohtani was limited to 47 innings during the regular season as he made his return from a second right elbow surgery. He finished with a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts and nine walks.
In the postseason, Ohtani added 20.1 more innings, posting a 4.43 ERA. He pitched at least six innings in three of his four starts, but only lasted 2.1 in Game 7 of the World Series.
Over his career, Ohtani owns a 2.93 ERA in 540.2 innings with a 31% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate.
Shohei Ohtani dropping in lineup when he pitches?
Ohtani is the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter, but Roberts hasn’t ruled out changing that on days the 31-year-old pitches.
For games Ohtani takes the mound, his primary focus is on pitching, and the offense becomes secondary. Hitting and pitching at Ohtani’s level also takes a significant physical and mental toll.
Because of that, Roberts has thought about moving Ohtani out of the leadoff spot when he pitches to help reduce some of that burden.
However, that is something Roberts won’t change until down the line if he deems it necessary.
“I’m more of a slow mover, as you probably know,” Roberts recently said. “So I would probably wait a little bit and see how it takes. I don’t like to just flip-flop back and forth. To that question, I’ll give it a handful of starts and see where we’re at.”
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