Game 7 of the World Series will feature a starting pitching matchup involving a pair of future Hall of Famers, as the Los Angeles Dodgers have announced that Shohei Ohtani will be starting for them. The
Toronto Blue Jays had previously announced Max Scherzer as their Game 7 starter.
Ohtani will be starting on three days rest, something he has never done in his career. The only other time in his career he has pitched on three days rest was in 2023, when he came back on three days rest after only throwing 31 pitches in his previous start. Otherwise, he’s always pitched with at least five days rest — he’s never made a start with even the four days rest that is “normal” rest for major league starters.
Los Angeles is turning to Ohtani, who started Game 4 for the Dodgers, after using their Game 3 starter, Tyler Glasnow, in relief in yesterday’s win. The Dodgers have said everyone except for Game 6 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be available to pitch tonight.
Going with Ohtani on short rest is obviously risky, but if the decision had already been made that Ohtani would be available to pitch tonight, you pretty much have to use him as the starter. Aside from the fact that he’s never made an appearance as a reliever in the majors — something that, as a practical matter, would be difficult for him, given he’d be having to go to the bullpen from the dugout to warm up — the rules MLB has in place regarding a team not losing their DH spot for a pitcher who is also in the lineup as a hitter pretty much force the Dodgers’ hand.
MLB adopted what is essentially the Shohei Ohtani Rule prior to the 2022 season. As explained on the MLB website, “a player is considered two separate people for the purposes of the DH rule” if the starting pitcher is also DHing. Thus, “[i]f the player is replaced as the pitcher, he can continue as the DH, and if the DH is replaced, he can continue as the pitcher (but can no longer bat for himself).”
Thus, when Ohtani is the starting pitcher, he is also the DH, and can continue in the DH spot even if he gets replaced on the mound by a reliever. However, because a player who is serving as the DH cannot play in the field without the team losing the DH spot, if Ohtani were to start the game as DH and later be used on the mound, if he is ever replaced by another pitcher, he’s out of the game, and the Dodgers would lose their DH spot, with the pitcher hitting in that spot the rest of the way.
So if you’re going to use Ohtani on the mound today, it has to be as a starter, so that you don’t run the risk of losing his bat after using him in relief later in the game. He probably isn’t going to go deep into the game — if the Dodgers could get three solid innings from him, I imagine they’d take that — but with ten other pitchers available behind him, he’s probably the best starting option L.A. has for Game 7.
