LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers’ hottest hitter won’t be in the lineup on Tuesday night.
Shohei Ohtani has heated up recently with back-to-back three-hit games Sunday and Monday. But he won’t be in the lineup on Tuesday. For the second time in his past three pitching starts, Ohtani will only pitch against the Miami Marlins and will not also DH.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hinted at the possible one-way day for Ohtani before Monday night’s game then confirmed the decision after Ohtani went 3 for 5 with two singles and a ninth-inning RBI double as the Dodgers rallied for a 5-4 win.
Ohtani will be starting on five days of rest Tuesday. It’s the first time this year and only the third time in 19 regular-season starts with the Dodgers that he will take the mound with less than six days of rest between starts.
That combined with the Dodgers having a day game on Wednesday were the reasons a one-way day for Ohtani was “up for consideration,” Roberts said. The Dodgers were weighing “the effect that it might have on him in the ensuing days.”
Two starts ago on April 15 against the New York Mets, Ohtani pitched but was not in the lineup to hit for the first time since May 2021. That decision was motivated by Ohtani getting hit by a pitch in the back of his right shoulder two days prior to his start.
Roberts said he hopes Ohtani doesn’t pay attention to the speculation about whether he should hit or not on days when he pitches.
“Hopefully he doesn’t put too much weight into it,” Roberts said before Monday’s game. “I don’t talk to him too much about it, to be quite honest. But he is well aware of what’s being said about him. But again, I think right now, all he’s thinking about is today. And then at some point in time I’ll have a conversation with him (about Tuesday).”
Ohtani went into Saturday’s game against the Chicago Cubs in an 0-for-12 slump. He reached base three times that day on a single and two walks then in the next two games went 6 for 8 with two doubles and a home run (his first in 59 plate appearances, the longest he has gone without a home run since joining the Dodgers).
As a pitcher, Ohtani has allowed just one earned run in 24 innings over his first four starts this season.