Shohei Ohtani was out of the Dodgers’ starting lineup for the fifth time in six games on Tuesday as Los Angeles played host to the Cincinnati Reds, but he is expected to be back as the designated hitter on Wednesday.
The decision was precautionary, according to manager Dave Roberts, giving Ohtani extra rest for his sore left knee and right biceps.
After a four-game break, Ohtani returned to action on Monday and finished 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk as the Dodgers beat the Reds 6-3 in the opener of a three-game series.
Before the Tuesday game, Roberts said, “I think with Shohei, he came out (of) yesterday well, but talking to training staff, it’s more of the thought of, ‘Let’s build him up slowly.’ He’ll be available in a big spot tonight. He’ll be in there tomorrow.”
Regarding Ohtani’s performance at the plate on Monday, Roberts said, “He got to (a) 99 (mph pitch) at the top of the zone yesterday, flew out to left field, which a week ago, he wasn’t close to catching up to that. So I think that’s a good thing. And I think at the end of the day, it’s just him saying, ‘I feel considerably better than I did.'”
Ohtani is batting 2-for-26 (.077) with no extra-base hits and no RBIs in his past seven games.
The four-time MVP hasn’t pitched since July 3, primarily because of the knee ailment. He had been progressing in a throwing program, but Monday night he said of the prospects of him returning to pitch this year, “Most likely no, and I am going to be focused on hitting moving forward.”
Ohtani said of decision to remain off the mound, “I’m confident that my overall performance should be better moving forward. I think the thing that I was more focused on is to make sure the pitching wouldn’t cause the worst scenario, which was for me to not be able to play at all.”
Overall this year, the six-time All-Star was hitting .277 with a .380 on-base percentage, a .522 slugging percentage, 30 homers and 80 RBIs through Monday.
In 14 pitching starts, Ohtani has an 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA, 95 strikeouts and 26 walks in 85 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
