Where Will Shohei Ohtani Hit in Dodgers’ Lineup? Here’s How Dave Roberts Will Decide
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is tasked with a managerial dream situation. Where will Shohei Ohtani hit in a lineup that also has Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman?
The answer is to get them all in a room and figure it out together.
“He’s not going to pitch this year coming off Tommy John, but he’s going to be DHing. I haven’t decided where he’s going to hit — 1, 2, or 3. Me, Mookie, Freddie, and Shohei are going to get in a room, we’re going to talk about it. For me it’s more of, I want him to get assimilated with his teammates. I’m going to kind of sit back and pick my spots. The most important thing is for him to feel comfortable around his teammates.”
Dave Roberts via The PosCast with Joe Posnanski & Michael Schur
Ohtani spent the majority of his time with the Angels batting in the two-hole. However, he did spend some time at the top of the order.
He’s a lefty bat with power and is a threat to steal. He is the only player in Angels history with 40 home runs and 20 steals in a season. He did it twice.
There is no right or wrong answer with the top of the order for this season. Ohtani at the top would be protected by the entire lineup.
The best option could be Ohtani leading off with Betts and Freeman at No. 2 and No. 3. If the opponent brings in a lefty pitcher for a late-inning situation, then Betts would be a right-handed bat sandwiched between two lefties.
He has also been intentionally walked quite a bit. That scenario puts a runner on with the top two RBI guys behind him.
The likely scenario would keep Betts in the leadoff spot, and then have Ohtani and Freeman follow him. Regardless of what Roberts chooses, though, he can’t go wrong. The top three batters will be feared by almost every pitching staff the Dodgers will face.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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Hey, Ms Maren:
I too am a SoCal transplant from Sunset Beach to Nashville. 20 years in Cottontown (White House).
But hey now, I like this article. Informative. I was a season ticket holder at Dodger Stadium 1979-1999, 21 years.
This is by far and away the best lineup since the early 60’s when we were spanking the Yankees.
I sincerely hope that we can round up some outstanding pitching to go with our nuclear roster.
I now live in Tampa, Florida. I am going to subscribe to the MLB channel to watch this show play out.
Thanks and keep up the good work! I’ll be looking for your articles.
High Regards,
Eric Blaze #5
Against right-hand starters: 1. Betts 2. Freeman 3. Ohtani 4. Will Smith 5. Muncy 6. Heyward 7. Teoscar 8. Outman 9. Lux
Against left-hand starters 1. Betts 2 Freeman 3. Ohtani 4. Will Smith 5. Teoscar 6. Chris Taylor (3B) 7. Outman 8. Margot (RF) 9,. Lux
Based on prior performance and the synergy of replacing the at-bats of Peralta, Rojas and Miguel Vargas with batters who will get on base more often and hit for power more often than those 3 did, and Ohtani hitting better than JD Martinez [who was very good in 120 games, true] the Dodgers should score more runs than last year, maybe 10% more, maybe reaching 1000 runs scored, 0.5 – 0.7 more runs per game, without the need for anyone to improve over expected performance. But Teoscar should hit significantly better being out of Seattle now, than when he was in Seattle. He won a silver slugger and was an all-star 2x before Seattle. They will strike out a lot. They won’t steal a ton of bases but maybe will steal a few more than last year. Lux, Ohtani will likely steal more than Rojas, JD Martinez. If Chris Taylor platoons at 3B with Muncy [who can’t hit left-handers] he will steal some bases. They will be good on the base paths. And they will so wear out opposing starting pitchers they will get better pitches to hit due to opposing pitchers’ fear of walking and putting men on base and they will get into opposing teams’ bullpens sooner than last year. So it is reasonable to expect them to score more runs this year without asking anybody to do anything unexpected. Let them stay healthy and the runs scored will be great.