UPDATE (July 17, 9 p.m. PT): The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Tyler Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan and Clayton Kershaw as their probables for this weekend.
Thus, Shohei Ohtani doesn’t figure to make his next start until Monday at the earliest.
Shohei Ohtani helped the Los Angeles Dodgers snap a season-worst seven-game losing streak last week with a dominant start against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.
Ohtani struck out the side in the first inning and proceeded to hold the Giants scoreless over a season-high three innings on 36 pitches. He allowed just two baserunners and finished with four strikeouts while topping out at 99.9 mph.
Manager Dave Roberts said the two-way star will make his next start against either the Milwaukee Brewers or Minnesota Twins on the Dodgers’ first homestand after the All-Star break, via SportsNet LA:
“Sort of who we’ve got right now is who we’re going to have coming out, and how that looks right now, I’m not sure. But obviously one of the first five days, Shohei is going to pitch one of those days. We do know that.”
Considering the current outlook of the Dodgers’ rotation and Ohtani’s previous pitching days, it stands to reason that he likely won’t be before Saturday. That would leave Dustin May and Tyler Glasnow as candidates for the series opener against the Brewers.
Ohtani’s next start will be his sixth of the season and fourth at Dodger Stadium. It’s likely that he will be limited to three innings again as he continues building up.
Ohtani has allowed just one run with 10 strikeouts against two walks in nine innings of work as a pitcher this season.
With Ohtani easing back into a two-way role, Roberts has noticed a shift in demeanor on days he pitches. The Dodgers skipper noted that Ohtani becomes “a little bit more edgy as a pitcher,” which the team in turn feeds off of.
Shohei Ohtani breaks Dodgers home run record
Ohtani finished the unofficial first half of the season with a National League-best 32 home runs, which are the most ever by a Dodgers player before the All-Star break.
Cody Bellinger previously held the Dodgers franchise record with 30 home runs before the 2019 All-Star Game.
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