Dodgers sit Shohei Ohtani to 'build him up slowly' after 2-strikeout return
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani was out of the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup on Tuesday night, a day after he went 0 for 3 on his return from a four-day break because of nagging injuries.
Ohtani struck out twice and had a walk as the designated hitter in a 6-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.
Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani came out of the game well, but after talking to the training staff the decision was made to build him up slowly. The two-way superstar has been dealing with lingering soreness in his left knee and right biceps. He won't pitch again this season and instead focus on hitting.
“It’s about, ‘What can we do to get him to be optimum as we get into the postseason?’” Roberts said before the game. "So I think that a day here or there is not the worst thing to make sure that his body overall feels as close to 100% as possible.”
Ohtani flew out to left field in his first at-bat Monday as he works to regain his swing.
“A week ago, he wasn't close to catching up to that (pitch),” Roberts said, “So I think that's a good thing. At the end of the day, it's just him saying, 'I feel considerably better than I did.’ For us, it’s not about just tonight.”
Ohtani will be available to pinch hit against the Reds and Roberts expects him to return to the lineup on Wednesday. The team is off on Thursday before starting a seven-game road trip Friday at Miami.
Roberts envisions giving Ohtani some days off over the remaining weeks of the regular season.
He said the situation has taught him to potentially get ahead of managing Ohtani's workload at the plate and on the mound.
"It's good for all of us to kind of appreciate that he’s not supernatural, as much as we think he might be at times,” Roberts said.
At the same time, the team relies on players, including Ohtani, to be honest about their health in a timely manner.
“I have learned that with players, as they get older, more mature, they’re more open to things like that,” Roberts said. "But you still have guys like Freddie Freeman who think that they want to play 162 (games). But yeah, I think he would be more open to just admissions and stuff.”
Tommy Edman started in center field and led off in Ohtani's place, while Freeman was the designated hitter as the NL West-leading Dodgers pursued a fifth consecutive win.
Ohtani is nearing the end of his third season with the Dodgers, and the first in which he was a full-time two-way player for much of it.
“I still think we see him as a two-way guy,” Roberts said about next year, “but that’s not on any of our radars right now.”
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