On Tuesday, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made headlines with a controversial call, pulling Shohei Ohtani in the fifth inning despite the two-way star having allowed neither a hit nor a run.
The decision ended up having disastrous results. The relievers were unable to preserve the three-run lead they received from Ohtani, and the Dodgers ended up losing the game 6-5.
Naturally, the question of what would have happened if Ohtani hadn’t left the mound was on everyone’s lips. For those in that situation, Roberts has one essential argument: the health of the Japanese star.
“Well, he wasn’t going to go back out,” Roberts said during his post-game press conference, as can be seen in the video posted to X by SportsNet LA. “We’ve been very steadfast in every situation as far as innings for his usage, from one inning to two innings to three to four to five. We haven’t deviated from that.
“But I’m not going to have a plan for five innings. And then he pitches well and say, ‘Hey, now you’re going to go six innings’. And then, you know, he’s too important.”
Ohtani is still recovering from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in 2023. As you may recall, this was the reason he didn’t pitch last season and why he has only pitched 41 innings this season, spread across 13 games.
The player expressed his willingness to continue, but Roberts ruled out any drastic changes to Ohtani’s workload for the remainder of the season.
“His thing is going to be a health decision the whole way until we get to next year,” Roberts said in the same press conference.
Ohtani has been solid in his return to the team’s pitching rotation. Entering Wednesday, he has one win and one loss, a 3.29 ERA, 54 strikeouts, and only nine walks.
On Tuesday, Ohtani faced 16 batters and threw 68 pitches. In addition to allowing no hits or runs, he also struck out five and walked one.
At the plate, he went 2-for-5, highlighted by his milestone 50th home run of the season. Coupled with five strikeouts on the mound, he became the first player in Major League history to record both 50 home runs and 50 strikeouts in a single season.
