LOS ANGELES — After only one game back, Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is out of the lineup on Tuesday, the fifth time in six days he isn’t starting.
“He came out of yesterday well, but talking with the training staff, it’s more the thought of let’s build him up slowly,” manager Dave Roberts said prior to Tuesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. “He’ll be available in a big spot tonight. He’ll be in there tomorrow.”
Ohtani flew out to deep
left field in his first at-bat back on Monday, after missing four games. He then struck out twice and walked. The flyout came on a 98.6-mph fastball from Chase Burns in the first inning.
“He got to 99 at the top of the zone yesterday, flew out to left field. A week ago, he wasn’t close to catching up to that,” Roberts said. “It’s not just about tonight, obviously he’s not in the lineup. It’s about what we can do to get him optimum as we get into the postseason. I think a day here and there is not the worst thing, to make sure his body overall feels as good or close to 100 percent as possible.”
Freddie Freeman gets the start at designated hitter, with Kiké Hernández starting at first base against Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo. It’s just the fourth career start at DH for Freeman, along with once in 2015 and twice in 2020 while with the Atlanta Braves.
Freeman is the 11th Dodger to start at DH this season, joining Ohtani (129 starts), Teoscar Hernández (three), Dalton Rushing (three), Will Smith (two), Alex Call (two), Santiago Espinal, Miguel Rojas, Andy Pages, Ryan Ward, and Max Muncy.
That’s three players shy of the club record set in 2022, when a whopping 14 different players started at DH — Justin Turner (61 starts), Muncy (25), Smith (24), Edwin Ríos (19), Jake Lamb (12), Chris Taylor (five), Miguel Vargas (four), Joey Gallo (three), Trayce Thompson (three), Eddy Alvarez (two), James Outman, Zach McKinstry, Gavin Lux, and Hanser Alberto.
