The Los Angeles Dodgers suffered a disappointing loss to the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night, but Shohei Ohtani’s health became of greater concern.
As he was laboring through the fourth inning, Ohtani was hit in the right thigh by a line-drive comebacker that had a 93.7 mph exit velocity. The infield single brought a run in and sent Ohtani limping back to the mound.
Ohtani hunched over while being tended to by Dodgers trainer Thomas Albert and pointed to his right thigh during their discussion. Ohtani remained in the game to finish the inning and took his next at-bat in the fifth, but later was pinch-hit for.
That allowed Ohtani to start receiving treatment and he’s optimistic of being back in the lineup on Friday for the start of another pivotal series against the San Diego Padres, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“I got hit in the same spot as a hit by a pitch. Right now it feels pretty good. I’m going to do everything in my ability to make sure it doesn’t affect me moving forward. … That’s my intention (to be in the lineup Friday). Just making sure I get my treatment, and the goal is to make sure that I’m back to normal again.”
Although Ohtani endured a painful moment, he was more worried and disappointed with his start:
“I don’t think it had any affect on my body. Just really was not happy with the results overall. In a situation like this, I just wish I was a little bit more creative as a starting pitcher being able to execute. I know this is kind of the tail end of the rehab process, so it’s really important for me to make sure that as a starting pitcher, I find ways to be creative and ways to get outs.”
The five runs Ohtani allowed represented a season-high. He also fell short of completing five innings for a second consecutive start. Last week he threw 4.1 innings against the Los Angeles Angels, complete with a season-high 80 pitches.
Ohtani needed 65 pitches to get through four innings against the Rockies. He was hurt by some soft contact but also an inability to put batters away when getting to two strikes.
Dodgers resting Ohtani
Prior to Ohtani taking the field and throwing a single pitch on Wednesday, it had already been decided he would not play in the series finale at Coors Field.
That stemmed from keeping Ohtani’s physical condition in mind with the early afternoon game following his pitching start. Prior to Wednesday, both of Ohtani’s last two starts as a pitcher came the night before an off day in the Dodgers’ schedule.
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