Shohei Ohtani was back in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup on Monday night after a four-day absence, and he said the part of his game that once made him baseball’s rare two-way force is most likely over for this season. He is focusing on hitting moving forward.
That matters now because the Dodgers need his bat every night while the stretch run tightens around them. Ohtani, who returned after sitting out four days, said he was disappointed to be essentially scrapping the pitching side of the plan, but he also said he wants to use this season as a learning experience for next year.
The numbers show why the Dodgers are leaning so hard on him at the plate. Ohtani is hitting.277/.380/.522 with 30 home runs and 11 stolen bases, production that has carried more weight as his mound work has faded from view. He went 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA in 14 starts before the shutdown of his pitching path became the practical reality.
That turnaround did not happen all at once. Ohtani has spent months managing soreness in his left knee, then felt discomfort along the right side of his neck and into his arm on Wednesday night. Earlier this season, his right biceps issue flared up during an Aug. 28 bullpen session, and he has not pitched in a game since July 3. Aug. 28 was the last time he threw a baseball.
Dave Roberts said right now it does not make any sense for Ohtani to pitch, and he added that the Dodgers’ medical staff will examine him daily to determine his lineup status in the near future. Roberts also said going on the injured list is not an option barring a change, which leaves the Dodgers in a narrow lane: keep Ohtani available to hit, protect him enough to avoid another setback, and accept that the mound return is most likely off the table.
That trade-off is the story of the Dodgers standings chase as much as any single box score. Since the start of July, the Dodgers have needed offense from a lineup that has ranked 23rd in OPS, 20th in runs per game and 23rd in weighted runs created plus. Ohtani’s value is obvious there. What is less certain is how long he can stay in the lineup while the team asks less and less of his arm.
