Shohei Ohtani was in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup Wednesday night for his third consecutive pitching start but he’s not going to start in the series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“This is one of those things where coming off the off day recently, he’s certainly swinging the bat well, I feel we can kind of empty the tank tonight on the pitching and hitting,” manager Dave Roberts said on SportsNet LA before the Dodgers’ seventh shutout win of the season. “And then kind of give him that full day (of rest) tomorrow.
“I feel that him knowing he’s down tomorrow, I think that’s mentally freeing for him going into tonight. There’s some value in knowing he can empty the tank and know he doesn’t have a to go to it tomorrow as well.”
The Dodgers have prioritized giving Ohtani a chance to recover from his pitching starts and two-way role while also maintaining some flexibility with their planning. They have made an effort to line up his pitching games right before an off day in the schedule.
In his 10th pitching start of the season, Ohtani went six scoreless innings and allowed just two hits. He held the Diamondbacks without a baserunner until Gabriel Moreno’s double with two outs in the fourth inning.
Ohtani has allowed one earned run or fewer in nine outings this year. Ohtani’s 0.82 ERA through his first nine starts of the season set a new Dodgers franchise record.
Ohtani’s season ERA is now down to 0.74. It’s the third-best mark through 10 starts in MLB history.
Shohei Ohtani’s hitting since being given rest
Another way the Dodgers have gone about managing Ohtani’s workload in his first full season of pitching since 2023 is by having the four-time MVP winner only take the mound. Such was the case on May 13, and Ohtani also was not in the Dodgers’ lineup the following night.
Ohtani reached base in all five plate appearances on Wednesday, and is now 30-for-69 with seven doubles, two triples, three home runs, 16 RBI and 14 runs scored in 18 games since then.
“I think that reset did him well. As we look out to the next one we’ll kind of read and react,” Roberts said.
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