For a player who has been so improbable, the Dodgers must now do the impossible.
When it comes to pitching, they must shut Shohei Ohtani down.
Despite suffering a knee ailment and biceps soreness this season, Ohtani is slowly trying to take the mound for the first time in more than two months.
Stop. Just stop.
The Dodgers have no business sticking Ohtani back on the mound. He belongs out there no more than Kiké Hernandez does.
There’s no two ways about it — the Dodgers should not plan on jamming Ohtani back into the starting rotation.
Read more: Shohei Ohtani still ‘not 100%’ and will not pitch Sunday against the Tigers
The Dodgers should thank him for his passion, applaud him for his 1.79 ERA in his first 14 starts, promise to return his resin bag next season, and ask him to go to work on that bat.
As much as the fans want to see all Ohtani, all of the time, the next couple of months are not about celebrating a novelty, they’re about winning a championship, and Ohtani can best get that done by avoiding another injury to himself on the mound and directing all of his efforts at the plate.
Recently, his hitting needs all the help it can get. After Saturday’s loss in Detroit, it had been a startling nine games since Ohtani homered or collected an RBI. During that span he had more than twice as many strikeouts as hits (13-5).
In this final month he needs to concentrate on getting his swing right and not worry about bullpens or openers or piggy-backs or any of the numerous machinations involved in getting him back on the mound.
Bottom line, the Dodgers need him more at the top of the order than in the middle of the diamond, and for now, he shouldn’t be in two places at once.
Bottom, bottom line, there is a sense that the Dodgers agree.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani follows through on a pitch during a game last month at Dodger Stadium. (Harry How / Getty Images)
Ohtani threw about 20 pitches in a bullpen session Friday and wasn’t 100%, and that set off alarm bells with the Dodgers’ bosses.
While guessing that Ohtani’s balky left knee would not allow him to be 100% by October, manager Dave Roberts openly wondered Saturday whether a pitching comeback is worth the effort.
“Obviously, where we’re at right now with the pitching, the starting pitching certainly being a strength, his value offensively is hugely important, and so we can’t compromise that in any fashion,” Roberts told reporters in Detroit. “So, if throwing potentially cuts into that, that’s not worth the squeeze. So that’s something for me. Very, very bullish on making sure we don’t compromise the hitting.”
Did you hear that? Not worth the squeeze? Exactly.
Are you listening, Ohtani? He’s always been the ultimate team player, so if the Dodgers asked his permission to shut him down, he would agree, right? Right?
Keeping Ohtani off the mound for the rest of the season is a radical view, certainly — c’mon, you’re paying the dude $700 million to hit and pitch! — but it’s a view backed by common sense.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani prepares to bat during a game earlier this month as Dodger Stadium. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Point One: The Dodgers won a World Series in 2024 with Ohtani strictly hitting, so it can be done.
Point Two: Last postseason, even with his three-homer, 10-strikeout gem in the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani had a playoff ERA of 4.43.
Playing in the postseason is hard. Pitching and hitting in the postseason is nearly impossible. That magical Brewers clincher was his only shining moment.
Point Three: They recently acquired Tarik Skubal specifically to reduce the need for Ohtani, and they now have a nearly unbeatable rotation without Ohtani.
With Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow having returned strong from injuries, they have four starters who easily can dominate a series.
Check out the current seven-game span of games started by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Skubal, Snell and Tyler Glasnow.
They gave up as many as three runs only twice. They pitched less than six innings only once. Their ERA was 2.38.
Read more: Tarik Skubal shines in emotional return to Detroit as Dodgers end three-game slide
Point Four: The struggling Dodgers offense desperately needs Ohtani to get right at the top. Who is going to get the big hit if he doesn’t? Entering the last month, the candidates are few.
Not a slowing Mookie Betts. Not psyched-out Kyle Tucker. Not aging Teoscar Hernández. Maybe Freddie Freeman, but he hasn’t hit a home run since July 4. And maybe Max Muncy, if they pitch to him.
Will Smith will be returning this week after a prolonged absence, and that will help, but not enough.
If anything happens to sideline Ohtani the hitter, the Dodgers are sunk, period.
And if he pitches, lots could happen to him.
The knee. The elbow. Whatever it was that has kept him off the mound since July 3. So much can go wrong if he’s pitching, and any pitching injury could have the double whammy of sidelining him as a hitter.
“I think 100% for me as far as an offensive player, that’s very important,” Roberts said. “As a pitcher, for me, given the strength of our staff, our team, I don’t think that’s as important. I think it’s important for us not to compromise his health in any capacity. But for me, it’s just his presence in the batter’s box is hugely important to him.”
Yes, Ohtani wants to pitch. Yes, the Dodgers promised him he could pitch. But that was before the injuries and the acquisitions and the slump.
Everything is different now. The landscape has changed.
The Dodgers no longer need the arm so badly that they can risk the bat.
Barely 20 bullpen pitches at the end of August? He’s clearly not going to be 100% by October, so shut him down and let him swing.
Shohei Ohtani is 32 and finishing his ninth season. He’s not a kid anymore.
He’s not infallible anymore.
Having him pitch and hit for a second consecutive October indeed would be a great story.
But having him use his bat to lead the Dodgers to a three-peat would be a better one.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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