Shohei Ohtani’s return against one of the NL’s top starters

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 06: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers gets ready to bat in the dugout during the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium on September 6, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) | Getty Images N

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What is the story about?

Never has a four-game streak felt so flat as one with the heavy cloud of Shohei Ohtani’s absence looming over the Dodgers, but those scary days seem to be over, and not a moment too soon. According to Dave Roberts, his star player is ready to return tonight against the Reds as the Dodgers get set for a far more daunting challenge than they had in any of the four games without the MVP. While the Reds as a team have tailed off after an encouraging start to the season, currently sitting in last place

of the NL Central, Chase Burns has been at the top of his game—if not for Jacob Misiorowski’s ridiculous season in Milwaukee, the Reds’ ace would be in the running for the NL Cy Young.

When Burns faced the Dodgers early in his first year last season, he wasn’t as polished, but there were already clear signs of the dominant pitcher he could be—hosting the reigning champs in late July of 2025, he reached double-digit strikeouts for his third straight start in a 5-2 loss. Assessing this game’s outlook in particular, for as great as Burns has been with his 2.79 ERA in nearly 150 innings, so has the run support he has received, the fourth-best in the sport at 5.88—the ideal recipe for a dominant 15-3 record.

All of this certainty on the Reds’ side is contrasted by the direct opposite on the Dodgers’ pitching plans for this matchup. An odd man out amidst the return of multiple key starters, Emmert Sheehan was sent down at the beginning of August after a blowup start against the Red Sox on Sunday Night Baseball—the Dodgers were coming off five straight losses in his starts. Since then, the work in Triple-A has been promising, with Sheehan allowing just one run in 17.1 innings.

Even in great teams, individual pitchers are susceptible to an underwhelming record for any number of reasons, but the comparisons of this specific matchup are too unique to ignore. The last-place Reds will send out a starter who has won 15 of his 18 decisions across 26 starts this year, while the first-place Dodgers will go with a starter who has lost two-thirds of his decisions with a 4-8 record in 20 appearances. When will we see something like this so late in the season from two players who have been with their respective clubs right from the start? It might be a while.