LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani found himself on a one-way street Wednesday night.
Left-hander David Peterson hit Shohei Ohtani in the back of the right shoulder with a 94-mph fastball during Monday’s game. Ohtani stayed in the game and served as the DH again on Tuesday. But he was hitless in seven at-bats since the HBP, and the Dodgers decided to have him make his scheduled start as a pitcher on Wednesday night against the New York Mets but not hit.
The one-way start was the first time since May 28, 2021 with the Angels that Ohtani pitched but was not also in the lineup as a hitter.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani reacted with surprise – Roberts even offered a spot-on impersonation of Ohtani’s wide-eyed look – when the idea was brought to him.
“I guess, maybe (he was) surprised but was fine with it – because I’ve never asked him to pitch and not hit,” Roberts said. “So I explained to him why and I think it makes complete sense.
“I think that we’re in a spot where I think that he understands that I’m making a decision that’s best for the player, for him, and for the team.”
Roberts acknowledged “there’s still some soreness in there” and Ohtani has worked to stay loose between at-bats the past two days, hitting in the cage. He wouldn’t be able to do that while also pitching.
“When he’s hitting, there’s a component that he’s in the cage getting ready to hit, and if we can take that off his plate and just focus on one thing tonight, we felt – training staff, pitching coaches, myself – we just felt it was the best thing for him,” Roberts said.
“He feels much better today than he did two days ago, and he feels better today than he did yesterday.”
Roberts said the Dodgers have no intention of making the one-way duty a regular occurrence when Ohtani pitches.
‘“If he wouldn’t have gotten hit, he would’ve DH’d today,” he said. “So I just think in this one game, it just makes more sense to give him the best chance to kind of manage the shoulder and the back.
“I think that it’s something I’m going to keep an eye on if it makes sense but not just kind of do it proactively. … It’s got to make sense to not have your best hitter not in the lineup.”
Ohtani has a 48-game on-base streak that will not be affected by his one-way start. The streak (the fourth-longest in Dodgers history) continues if Ohtani does not get a plate appearance.
SNELL LIVE
Left-hander Blake Snell threw another live batting practice session Wednesday afternoon. It was his second and he extended to two innings and 31 pitches this time, facing Alex Call, Santiago Espinal and Tommy Edman.
“I don’t know the velocity, but the throw looked good,” Roberts said. “The changeup, the arm speed was really good. Command, good. … Couldn’t have asked for any more.”
Snell will likely face hitters in the live BP situation a couple more times, eventually adding a third inning before going on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment.
Snell is on the injured list with shoulder inflammation and is not expected back until late May.
REMEMBERING ROBINSON
Dodgers and Mets players, coaches and staff gathered at the Jackie Robinson statue in the center field plaza before Wednesday’s game. It has become an annual tradition on Jackie Robinson Day. Robinson’s two granddaughters and Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, were guest speakers.
“Every player of color who now enjoys our great sport, they owe it to this man,” Kendrick said. “What he did was incredibly difficult under some of the most harsh circumstances you could ever imagine. He had to go out there and deal not only with the racial hatred but he was carrying 21 million Black folks on his back when he walked across those lines. Had he failed, an entire race of people would have failed. That’s an enormous amount of pressure. How he did it with such grace, class and dignity is absolutely incredible. And no, we should never forget Jackie Robinson.”
Roberts, one of just two Black managers currently in the majors, told the teams Robinson would be proud that they reflect his dream and vision of what equality and unity would look like.
“My ask is that we remember how we got here,” Roberts said.
REHAB TIME
Right-hander Brock Stewart started his rehab assignment by striking out the side in one inning for Class-A Ontario on Tuesday night. Stewart is recovering from shoulder surgery last September.
He is expected to make at least one more rehab appearance with Ontario before moving his rehab to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
UP NEXT
The Dodgers are off Thursday.
Dodgers (RHP Tyler Glasnow, 1-0, 4.00 ERA) at Rockies (RHP Tomoyuki Sugano, 1-0, 2.16 ERA), Friday, 5:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA, 570 AM