Shohei Ohtani snapped the longest home run drought of his Dodgers tenure in a three-hit game on Sunday, and collected three more hits, including an RBI double in the ninth on Monday to help set up Kyle Tucker’s walk-off winner. Ohtani has reached base nine times in his last 14 plate plate appearances over the last three games.
But he won’t hit in Tuesday’s game against the Miami Marlins, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed on Monday night. Instead, Ohtani will focus on pitching, part of the ever-present
puzzle of managing the workload of a two-way player who excels at both pitching and hitting.
This is the second time in five pitching starts for Ohtani this season in which he was not also the designated hitter. The first time, on April 15 against the New York Mets, came two days after getting hit by a pitch on the back of his right shoulder, which factored into the decision.
By not swapping spots with Tyler Glasnow this series (to start the day before an off day), Ohtani on Tuesday will pitch on five days rest for the first time this season. After starting the fifth game of the season on the mound, Ohtani’s other pitching starts came on seven, six, and six days of rest.
Some of the cost of removing Ohtani from the lineup is mitigated somewhat by having backup catcher Dalton Rushing ready and able to fill in when needed at designated hitter. Rushing so far this season has started once each at DH and first base in addition to his nine catching starts, and is hitting .385/.467/.974 with seven home runs, second on the team despite batting only 45 times.
Speaking of Rushing, he pinch-hit for second baseman Santiago Espinal in the ninth inning and walked, helping to set up Tucker’s game-winner. But had the Dodgers only tied the game, things would have gotten weird in the 10th inning, because the Dodgers at that point were out of position players.
Roberts told reporters Monday night that in the 10th he would have moved Max Muncy to second base, and moved Freddie Freeman to third base with Rushing at first base. Muncy has 161 career starts at second base, but the last one was in 2022, before Major League Baseball put limitations on defensive shifts. Freeman started 16 games at third base way back in 2017 with the Atlanta Braves, but otherwise has only worn a first baseman’s glove in the field in his 17-year career.
Sure, the Dodgers won on Monday, but at the cost of expanding our sense of wonder.
Tuesday game info
- Teams: Dodgers vs. Marlins
- Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
- Time: 7:10 p.m.
- TV: SportsNet LA
- Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)
