No, Shohei Ohtani isn’t going to start playing in the outfield for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season.
At least, probably not.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts essentially shut that idea down on Tuesday night after the team’s 9-6 win against the Philadelphia Phillies, just days after Ohtani told reporters that he’d be open to helping out in the outfield when he wasn’t on the mound or serving as the team’s designated hitter.
“He hasn’t played the outfield [for us], but I appreciate the fact that he’s open to whatever we need,” Roberts said, via MLB.com. “So, I don’t know how that looks, though. He hasn’t taken a fly ball all year.”
This idea isn’t coming out of thin air. It was actually floated by Ohtani himself this week. He said it’s “come up” internally recently as the team prepares for the postseason.
“As a player, if I’m told to go somewhere, I want to be prepared to do so,” he said. “That’s on the mound and perhaps even in the outfield.”
Ohtani’s outfield experience, as Roberts noted, is extremely limited. He hasn’t played there since his time with the Los Angeles Angels, though he only made six total appearances out there.
While Ohtani’s more than proven himself as an elite baseball player overall, throwing him into the outfield in the playoffs with little prep may not be the smartest idea for the Dodgers — especially considering that Ohtani is just now back on the mound in recent months after several surgeries that forced him to only be the team’s designated hitter for his entire first season with the franchise.
Ohtani threw five hitless innings on Tuesday night in their loss to the Phillies, and he hit his 50th home run of the season — a feat he’s now accomplished in back-to-back campaigns. He’s holding a .282 batting average with 94 RBIs, too.
The Dodgers enter Wednesday’s game with an 84-67 record, which has them in first in the NL West race by just two games over the San Diego Padres.
As for Ohtani’s generosity to play anywhere in order to help the Dodgers back up their World Series title successfully this fall, Roberts is all for it. Actually getting Ohtani into the outfield, though, may not be happening anytime soon.
“He’s a great teammate,” Roberts said. “He wants to help us win with a championship. So I’m all about it.
“I don’t know if [the outfield is] going to happen.”
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