The Los Angeles Dodgers are close to getting their rotation to full health, and the final pieces of the puzzle may be falling into place this week.
Tyler Glasnow is set to return on Tuesday when he will start against the Atlanta Braves. After that, Shohei Ohtani could be in line to start on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers, according to Fabian Ardaya and Katie Woo of The Athletic.
Ohtani starting that game and throwing one inning is an option the club is considering, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the club’s thinking who cannot comment publicly because those plans are not finalized.
Ohtani recently completed a bullpen session of around 45 pitches and came out of it well.
He then faced Will Smith in a live batting practice session on Saturday, which was his first time facing hitters. Ohtani faced Smith six times and threw 30 pitches during that session.
He is expected to throw one more bullpen while the Dodgers are in Atlanta, and then from there, manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani could throw another more bullpen session or pitch in a game for his next step.
The Dodgers have not officially decided which one Ohtani will do, but things may be trending toward starting for the club on Sunday.
“I think it’s more of how the ‘pen goes, and also more so, to be quite honest, how Shohei feels,” Roberts noted. “If he feels like he can take on a game and throw an inning, great, and how it lines up, versus, ‘I might need to see some more hitters.'”
After Ohtani faced Smith, Roberts indicated the right-hander feels ready to get back into a game sooner, rather than later.
“I think if it were up to Shohei, he’d be in a game in a few days,” Roberts said.
Ohtani’s last pitching start came on July 3 against the San Diego Padres before he was removed from the rotation to address his knee issue. The 32-year-old has pitched to a 1.79 ERA in 85.2 innings this season.
Dodgers rotation plans
With Glasnow returning on Tuesday, the Dodgers plan to keep the rest of their rotation in order after him. That means Roki Sasaki will go on Wednesday and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Thursday for the series finale against the Braves.
After that, Tarik Skubal is lined up to face his previous club to begin the series against the Detroit Tigers on Friday, and Blake Snell will follow him on Saturday. With no starter planned for Sunday’s series finale, that should be Ohtani’s spot, but Eric Lauer could also slot back in there if they delay the two-way superstar.
Lauer is currently in a bullpen role, and Roberts said it’s unclear if he’ll make another start.
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