Dodgers manager Dave Roberts during postgame interviews and during his media availability after Game 6 of the World Series at Rogers Centre in Toronto was noncommittal about his starting pitcher for Game 7.
But it looks like Shohei Ohtani, who makes the most sense, will get the ball first in the winner-take-all game against the Blue Jays on Saturday, per Ken Rosenthal and Cody Stavenhagen at The Athletic and by Jack Harris at the Los Angeles Times.
Ohtani will be pitching on three days rest for the first time in his career, after throwing 93 pitches in six-plus innings in a Game 4 loss to the Blue Jays on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
Roberts during his postgame media availability on Friday night said he’s confident in pitching Ohtani on short rest.
“This is Game 7, so there’s a lot of things that people haven’t done, and you’ve just got to trust your players and try to win a baseball game,” Roberts said.
Ohtani in his 103 career pitching starts between the regular season and postseason has started on fewer than five days rest only once. That was on April 21, 2023 while with the Angels, four days after Ohtani’s start was interrupted by rain after only two innings. In that April 21 start on three days rest, Ohtani struck out 11 in seven innings.
Immediately after the Game 6 win, Roberts was interviewed on the field by Rosenthal on Fox.
“[Ohtani] is certainly going to be a part of the pitching plan. With Shohei, it could be two innings, it could be four innings. I’m not sure where we’re going to start him,” Roberts told Rosenthal. “We’re going to talk to him first and see where he feels the most comfortable.”
Roberts later in the interview room told reporters that every pitcher would be available in Game 7, then later clarified that he meant everyone except Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who pitched six innings Friday night. Yamamoto in the interview room told reporters he would be able to pitch if asked.
Tyler Glasnow also will figure prominently in the Game 7 pitching plans, as his last start was on Monday. He got the final three outs of Game 6 but only needed three pitches to do so, and figures to be available for bulk innings on Saturday.
Snell said after his Game 5 start that he would be available to pitch in relief in Game 7 as well, which will be on two days of rest. Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, and Ohtani have combined for 104 1/3 innings (67.7 percent of the team total) with a 2.42 ERA and 29.3-percent strikeout rate.
Starting make the most sense for Ohtani if he’s going to pitch, because it allows for him to remain in the game as designated hitter after he’s done pitching. We discussed the specific rule for two-way players back in June when Ohtani returned to pitching:
From MLB Rule 5.11(b):
Starting Pitcher as Designated Hitter. It is not mandatory that a Club designate a hitter for the pitcher. However, in the event the starting pitcher will bat for himself, the player will be considered two separate people for purposes of Rule 5.11(a). In such cases, the manager should list 10 players on his team’s lineup card, and this player should be named twice – once as the starting pitcher and once as the Designated Hitter. Thus, if the starting pitcher is replaced, he can continue as the Designated Hitter (but can no longer pitch in the game), and if the Designated Hitter is replaced, he can continue as the pitcher (but can no longer hit for himself). If the player is simultaneously replaced both as a starting pitcher and Designated Hitter, he cannot be replaced by another two-way player filling both roles as separate people (this can be done only once on the initial lineup card by identifying that the starting pitcher will bat for himself).
If Ohtani were to enter in relief, the Dodgers would give up the DH, and if Ohtani would have to be removed as a pitcher in that instance, he’d need to move to a position in the field (something he hasn’t done since 2021) to remain in the game.
Mookie Betts was interviewed on Fox after Game 6, and was asked about Game 7.
“The way Shohei’s life is set up, it’s just destiny,” Betts said. “This is the perfect moment for him. The moment was made for him, and I’m glad he’s on our team and we don’t have to go against him.”
