The Los Angeles Dodgers completing a sweep of the Minnesota Twins included Mookie Betts nearly hitting for the cycle and another one-run win, but much of the conversation was dominated by a viral moment between Shohei Ohtani and Dalton Rushing.
There was a cross-up that resulted in a run scoring on a passed ball, and more notably a clear on-field disagreement over Ohtani’s initiating a challenge after one of his pitches. Rushing shook his head no and appeared to gesture the pitch, which had been called a ball, was indeed out of the zone. The call wound up being overturned.
Freddie Freeman, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and pitching coach Mark Prior were shown on the SportsNet LA broadcast speaking with Rushing in the dugout. Roberts said there continued to be talks leading into the weekend series against the San Diego Padres but otherwise downplayed any concern, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
Those conversations continued over the last day and a half, Roberts said Friday.
“I think he was in the moment,” Roberts said. “I really feel that going forward, we’ll all be on the same page. It’s not always going to be synced up, but I think that where it got to the other day, I really don’t see that happening going forward. They all care. Everyone cares.”
Following the game, Rushing took ownership for what he deemed a “pretty embarrassing” performance on all fronts. That included going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
“Thankfully, he’s as good as he is, and he can take control of a game,” Rushing said of Ohtani, who finished the outing by calling his own pitches starting in the third inning.
Shohei Ohtani’s ERA with Dalton Rushing
Rushing has become the Dodgers’ primary catcher since June 6 due to Will Smith’s ongoing neck trouble. Smith recently received a cortisone injection and as of earlier this week still had not resumed baseball activities.
During that span Rushing has now caught Ohtani in three starts. Ohtani has a 4.34 ERA when pitching to Rushing, the result of allowing nine runs over 18.2 innings. That’s compared to 0.74 ERA with Smith, or five runs allowed across 61 innings in 10 starts.
Although Ohtani has acknowledged communication with Rushing is a work in progress, there’s also the reality of his dealing with a blister on the right middle finger and left knee inflammation. It can be reasoned the two minor issues are impacting Ohtani’s pitching, and not just working with Rushing instead of Smith.
Last season, Ohtani’s ERA in seven starts throwing to Smith was 5.91. That was much higher than Ohtani’s 0.61 ERA in the five starts Rushing caught.
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