Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani continues to lead off the batting order, but he’s recently been held out of the pitching rotation due to pain in his left knee.
His progression back to the mound was recently paused, as his expected bullpen session on Saturday was canceled due to knee pain.
With Ohtani forming a core part of the anticipated starting rotation for the playoffs, questions remain about how best to handle him the rest of the regular season.
Manager Dave Roberts recently weighed in on that question and revealed his thought process behind using Ohtani when speaking with Katie Woo of The Athletic.
Dave Roberts’ calculus for letting Shohei Ohtani hit
Though Ohtani normally pitches only once every six games as part of the starting rotation, he plays pretty much every game at designated hitter.
So does that offensive play affect his knee?
Roberts said he spoke with Ohtani about that, and the superstar said his knee pain is unrelated to hitting.
“From his words, the hitting, the running, as he has done the last couple nights, doesn’t affect him,” Roberts told Woo. “I can only go by what he and the training staff are telling me. So, unless I hear otherwise, that hitting compromises his health, then I’m going to keep putting him in the lineup.”
Woo also reported that the Dodgers won’t push Ohtani to throw another bullpen session “until he feels 100 percent” out of fears that he could get injured even more.
“Should Ohtani rush a comeback, he risks overcompensating, which could lead to other issues not as treatable as the team believes his knee is,” Woo wrote.
And if Ohtani were to get hurt in a way that prevents him from hitting as well, that could be truly disastrous for the team’s goal of a three-peat.
After all, Roberts has admitted that the Dodgers value Ohtani more as a hitter than a pitcher.
And with hurlers like Justin Wrobleski, an All-Star this season, ready to step in as a pitcher if needed, there’s no need to rush Ohtani back to the mound.
So while this knee pain could cost Ohtani a shot at a Cy Young Award this season, it keeps everyone’s ultimate goal, a World Series, in play.
