Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed two-way star Shohei Ohtani won’t hit in his start in Tuesday’s game against the Miami Marlins, per the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett.
This will mark the second game this season where Ohtani has pitched but not hit, the first coming against the New York Mets after he got hit in the shoulder a couple of days beforehand. He had a spectacular start in that outing, posting six innings and allowing only one run on two hits.
Notably, Ohtani batted in his most recent start against the San Francisco Giants and had a great game on the mound, but went 0-for-4 at the dish.
A primary reason for concern regarding Ohtani’s current condition is the amount of rest he has heading into Tuesday’s start. He will have had just five days of rest come first pitch, which is likely a driving factor in the Dodgers reducing his workout.
Ahead of Monday’s series-opening win against the Miami Marlins, Roberts said he hopes Ohtani isn’t too worried about what the Dodgers should do on days when he pitches.
“Hopefully he doesn’t put too much weight into it,” Roberts said. “I don’t talk to him too much about it, to be quite honest. But he is well aware of what’s being said about him. But again, I think right now, all he’s thinking about is today. And then at some point in time I’ll have a conversation with him (about Tuesday).”
Ohtani has been among one of the best pitchers in the National League this season, even having only made four starts.
He has thrown six innings in each of those outings for a total of 24 innings pitched, and has struck out 25 batters across all of his starts so far. Only two runs have crossed the plate on his watch, and one went down as unearned. His 0.38 ERA would lead the National League if he qualified, but the Dodgers’ six-man rotation has limited his innings.
Ohtani got off to a difficult start to the season, batting just .167 through the first two series of the year, but pieced it together after four multi-hit games in a row towards the beginning of April.
He carried a lengthy on-base streak into the season, and still managed to stretch it to 53-games despite his rough time at the plate for the first six games of the year.
The reigning MVP hit something of a rough patch after the streak snapped, going hitless three games in a row, but has since ticked back up with consecutive three-hit games.
He has six homers and 13 RBIs on the season with a .898 OPS.
What do you think of the Dodgers’ decision to keep Shohei Ohtani out of the lineup on bump days?