Why Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani is limited to one role

For five years, Shohei Ohtani had been his team’s designated hitter every time he took the mound for a pitching start.

For the second time in three weeks, he will be tasked on Tuesday with only pitching for the Dodgers once again.

As manager Dave Roberts announced Tuesday night, Ohtani will not be the club’s batting lineup as DH for his latest pitching outing against the Miami Marlins at Dodger Stadium.

Last time it happened, on April 15 against the New York Mets, it was because the two-way star was nursing a bruised shoulder.

This time, it is much more illustrative of the way the Dodgers are trying to manage the four-time MVP’s workload.

Prior to making his official announcement after Tuesday’s game, Roberts explained why the Dodgers were considering such a move in his afternoon address to reporters.

He noted that, for the first time this year, Ohtani will be pitching on only five days’ rest as opposed to his typical six or seven. He also cited the fact that Wednesday’s series finale will be a noon start, leaving a tight turnaround for Ohtani to be ready to DH again in that day’s game.

“All that matters,” Roberts said.

Still, in the bigger picture, Tuesday is yet another reminder of the increased burden Ohtani is taking on this season. 

Last weekend, Roberts acknowledged the added difficulty facing the 31-year-old this year. He is back to making full-intensity and full-length outings in his weekly turns through the team’s six-man rotation. It’s only “common sense,” the skipper argued, that it has resulted in cuts to Ohtani’s behind-the-scenes bandwidth and somewhat sluggish early-season offensive production.

Thus, the Dodgers are trying to be proactive about managing Ohtani’s workload. It’s likely that Tuesday won’t be the last time they keep him out of the lineup on days he starts on the mound –– a situation in which his offensive numbers were significantly worse last year, anyway.

Their hope is that, in the long run, it will keep the superstar fresh over the course of the season, while also helping him maximize performance on the days he pitches.

“It doesn’t make sense for him to go wire-to-wire (as both a) pitcher and hitter, playing every day and pitching every week. That’s hard,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told AM570 over the weekend. “So we do need to mix some rest in there … It definitely makes it trickier. That being said, as long as we’re staying connected (with him) consistently, I think we will feel our way through what makes the most sense.” 

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