Shohei Ohtani is set to start on the mound in the second game of the series against the San Diego Padres after the Los Angeles Dodgers pushed his appearance back two days.
Dalton Rushing will still be catching Ohtani despite an eventful game the last time they were the battery. Demonstrative reactions from Rushing and miscommunication with Ohtani was followed by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Freddie Freeman being among those to speak with the young catcher.
“I think they will be [on the same page]. I think they will be more than they were his last start,” Roberts said. “They don’t think the same, so it takes time, but again, Dalton understands this is what he signed up for. The job of a catcher is to be a servant to the pitcher, that’s the bottom line.
“So it’s Dalton’s job to get on the page with whatever pitcher. So I expect that all to be resolved.”
Since the game in question, the Dodgers have maintained a message of belief that everyone would be able to move past it. The organization continued to have discussions with Rushing in the immediate aftermath, but otherwise expressed that they did not have any concerns.
Nevertheless, the expectation is for Ohtani to call his own pitches against the Padres. He did so following the mix-up against the Twins.
Rushing has become the Dodgers’ starting catcher since June 6 due to Will Smith’s lingering neck trouble. During that span Rushing has caught Ohtani in three starts entering play Friday.
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 in 61 innings across 10 starts.
As for why Ohtani was given two extra days between pitching starts in the first place, the primary concern was with protecting his overall health.
Also under consideration was the team’s current schedule and factoring in opponents. The Dodgers are in the midst of playing 13 games in a row and don’t have an off day in their schedule until Thursday, July 9.
When they previously went through a similar stretch, the Dodgers managed Ohtani’s workload by limiting him to just pitching duties on May 13.
Dalton Rushing embarrassed by incident with Shohei Ohtani
Rushing took his actions to heart and said after the June 24 game that he was “embarrassed” to make his coaches and teammates feel they needed to step in and provide guidance.
Though by that same token, Rushing also expressed his gratitude for always feeling supported by all members of the organization.
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