Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani dealt with the blister on his hand during his outing against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.
After a grueling fifth inning where four earned runs came across, Ohtani walked off the mound and into the dugout with his finger noticeably bleeding.
Ohtani has had the blister for over a month, though the Dodgers were confident it wouldn’t affect his pitching.
“There is a little blister. Everyone saw him picking at it a little bit, but I didn’t hear too much about it after the game,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t expect it to affect him going forward.”
Whether or not it has affected him is up in the air, but Ohtani certainly hasn’t looked himself over his past couple of starts.
He threw 6.2 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates last week, allowing four total runs while walking three batters and generally struggling to find the zone. He allowed four runs for the second consecutive start Wednesday, and had difficulty finding the zone once again.
Despite his bleeding blister, Ohtani returned to the game for the sixth inning and got through the frame without much issue to end his outing.
How Has Shohei Ohtani Pitched This Year?
Prior to his last two starts, Ohtani was near untouchable when he stepped on the mound. He had a 0.74 ERA through 10 starts, and struck out 67 batters in 61 innings pitched.
While he earned seven of the eight runs he has allowed over his past two starts, his ERA still sits below 2.00 at 1.47, and would rank second among qualified pitchers behind Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski—the current frontrunner in the NL Cy Young race.
He has only allowed three home runs through 73.2 innings pitched, and still has a microscopic 0.88 WHIP.
The Dodgers will hope Ohtani can overcome the issue with his blister, though he’s still managing to play through it and post respectable results.
LA has a rest day Thursday and Ohtani likely won’t pitch until next week, so the Dodgers have plenty of time to get the reigning MVP back to 100%.
Does the blister on Shohei Ohtani’s hand concern you? Should the Dodgers sit him for a few games, or keep him in the lineup?
One Response
He claims to be so tough and can do it all so just slap some duct tape on it and get on with it..??