The Los Angeles Dodgers were set to have superstar Shohei Ohtani pitching on Wednesday in the second game of their series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the team announced right-hander Emmet Sheehan as the starting pitcher.
Although Ohtani is still batting leadoff as per usual, manager Dave Roberts revealed why Ohtani isn’t on the bump to try and avenge Tuesday’s loss.
Read more: Shohei Ohtani Scratched as Dodgers’ Starting Pitcher, Emmet Sheehan Taking the Mound vs Pirates
Roberts revealed Ohtani was “under the weather” on Tuesday. He felt good enough to hit but didn’t feel great pitching because of the illness.
“The tax of pitching in a game, it wasn’t worth it,” Roberts said.
When Will Shohei Ohtani Pitch Next for Dodgers?
Roberts revealed Ohtani will pitch “sometime this weekend” for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers currently have southpaw Blake Snell slated to start on Thursday, Tyler Glasnow to kick off a series with the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto planned to take the hill Saturday. This would likely leave Ohtani to return to pitching on Sunday.
On the year, Ohtani has a 4.18 ERA across 32.1 innings of work. He has struck out 44 batters to just seven walks in this time, with an ERA+ of 101, placing him right around league average.
Ohtani’s offense, which he is still able to be showcasing on Wednesday, is on another level than the rest of the league.
He is batting .279 with a National League leading .610 slugging percentage and .998 OPS. His 125 total runs lead MLB, and he is on pace to lead the baseball world in runs for a second consecutive seasons.
Ohtani has added 46 home runs, 87 RBIs and an OPS+ of 174, putting him about 75 percent higher than league average, which leads the National League.
The Dodgers need to get back in the win column against the Pirates after dropping the first game of the series. Additionally, their lead in the NL West that was nine games during the first week of July is now just 2.5 games over the San Diego Padres.
Photo Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
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2 Responses
So much talk about the possibility of Joe Kelly rejoining the Dodgers, then they go out and get Andrew Heaney. What don’t we know about Kelly, that made the dodgers shy away?
In reference to Joe Kelly, he wasn’t very good last season. In reference to Andrew Heaney, he isn’t very good this season.