LOS ANGELES — The calculus has gotten much more complicated for the Dodgers in the third year of the Shohei Ohtani era.
For the first time since 2023 with the Angels, Ohtani has entered a season fully healthy as a pitcher with a self-proclaimed goal of taking on a full starting pitcher’s load (and maybe, just maybe, becoming the first Japanese-born pitcher to win a Cy Young Award).
In order for that to happen, it is going to take some work on the Dodgers’ part to keep Ohtani healthy all season – and still ready to take on a postseason workload as well.
“Obviously having him do both duties – in theory, in practice, it’s great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Ohtani’s fifth start of the season Tuesday night – the second when he was not also in the starting lineup as DH.
“But how sustainable is it without kind of taking a little bit off his plate? … That’s the question and it’s not exact science.”
The last time Ohtani tried to take on a full pitching load along with his daily hitting contributions in 2023, his season ended in August with an elbow injury that required a second Tommy John surgery.
The first time the Dodgers chose to take hitting off his plate for a day, it was motivated by Ohtani getting hit in the back of his right shoulder by a pitch two days before his scheduled start. This time, it was more about Ohtani’s workload and the potential for fatigue. The one-way start against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night is the first time this season and only the third time in 19 starts that Ohtani will be pitching on less than six days of rest.
“This is an opportunity to hedge a little bit, play both sides – to have a guy that’s swinging a good bat in Dalton (Rushing, filling in at DH and batting leadoff on Tuesday) replace him for a night to give Shohei the best opportunity to pitch well and not take on both duties for tonight to then just hit tomorrow and then have an off day (on Thursday).”
The decision to occasionally focus only on pitching is not specifically motivated to allow Ohtani to maximize his outings as a pitcher – but “you would think that it would only help for that particular outing,” Roberts said.
“It’s almost like a half-day for him. I think that in itself is a win for his mind and body.”
Ohtani has been accepting of the decisions so far, Roberts said.
“He was fine with it,” Roberts said. “I didn’t go through it with him, to be honest with you.
“No. 1, there’s certainly trust with the organization, with me, understanding that he’s smart in the sense of being able to look a little bit beyond just today. That takes a smart player to understand the nuances of it.
“His goal is to make every start and so with that, there has to be some compromise and some openness to kind of read and react. So far, I think we’re doing a nice job and he’s open to that.”
There is no specific program of one-way days or starts on five days of rest drawn up for the rest of the season, Roberts said. But he “absolutely” would expect the Dodgers to lean on Ohtani more down the stretch if necessary.
“That kind of aligns with how we look at things and understanding when you need to push guys and when you don’t,” Roberts said.
REHAB REPORT
Left-hander Blake Snell made his second rehab start for Class-A Ontario on Tuesday night, pitching three scoreless innings and retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced.
Snell struck out six of the first seven batters he faced and allowed just one hit (a double) while throwing 39 pitches. In his first rehab start last week, Snell faced eight hitters and threw 32 pitches.
The left-hander is expected to continue his rehab assignment until he has built up to five innings and then join the Dodgers’ starting rotation in late May or early June. He started the season on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, a leftover from his shoulder issues last season.
MINOR TRADE
The Dodgers acquired infielder Tyler Fitzgerald from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations. Fitzgerald has been assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Fitzgerald, 28, spent the past three seasons with the San Francisco Giants, batting .252 in 178 games as a utilityman. In 2024, he played primarily shortstop and hit .280 with 15 home runs in 96 games.
He didn’t sustain that in 2025 and was traded to the Blue Jays by the Giants earlier this month (also for cash considerations) and was in Triple-A Buffalo.
In order to clear a 40-man roster spot for Fitzgerald, right-hander Landon Knack was moved to the 60-day injured list. Knack has been on the IL with an intercostal strain suffered in spring training.
UP NEXT
Marlins (RHP Sandy Alcantara, 3-2, 3.05 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Tyler Glasnow, 3-0, 2.45 ERA), Wednesday, 12:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM