Shohei

Ohtani

It’s a planned day off for Ohtani after he pitched seven innings against the Giants on Wednesday evening. Will Smith will serve as the team’s designated hitter and leadoff hitter in his absence on Thursday while Dalton Rushing starts behind the dish for the Dodgers.

Ohtani apparently did something new with his splitter tonight, as the seven he threw were up 3.3 mph from his season average. Mostly, though, he used fastballs and sweepers, picking up all eight of his strikeouts with those two offerings. In seven starts this season, he’s allowed no earned runs four times, one earned run twice and two earned runs once. It’s only earned him a 3-2 record, but his ERA is sitting at 0.82. The plan still appears to be for him to get a second straight day off at the plate on Thursday. He’ll be back at DH for the series against the Angels on Friday, and he’ll likely make his next start Tuesday in San Diego.

Teoscar Hernández is at DH with Alex Call taking over in left field. Ohtani had been scuffling at the plate, hitting .200/.321/.300 with one home run over his previous 26 games before going deep off Giants starter Adrian Houser during Tuesday’s contest. The Dodgers are making a concerted effort to reduce the 31-year-old two-way sensation’s workload to keep him fresher at the plate moving forward. He’ll get a full day off Thursday before returning for Friday’s series opener against the Angels.

Ohtani came into this one 4-for-36 in the month of May and hadn’t homered in 13 games since April 26. He knocked a base hit and scored a run in the first inning, then led off the third with an opposite-field blast off Adrian Houser. Ohtani later drew a walk in the fifth to reach for a third time. The 31-year-old two-way star is scheduled to take the mound for Wednesday’s contest. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Ohtani will likely be held out of the lineup either Wednesday or Thursday. He’s hasn’t started at designated hitter his last couple of games on the mound. If that’s the case again, look for him to take his normal leadoff spot in Thursday’s series finale.

Roberts added that they’re leaning towards having Ohtani pitch exclusively on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium but they haven’t made a final decision yet. The 31-year-old generational talent has been mired in an uncharacteristic tailspin at the plate recently, hitting just .193 (11-for-57) with one home run and four steals over his last 15 games. He’s far too talented to continue struggling, but it’s possible that the tremendous two-way workload he’s shouldering is leading to some fatigue that’s adversely impacting his performance at the plate. The encouraging news here is that Ohtani seems to be completely fine from a physical standpoint. Hopefully the extra time off serves as a mental reset and helps get him back on track.

Ohtani grounded out three times and struck out twice while seeing his average drop back down to .233. The Dodgers said after the game that he’ll be out of the lineup either Wednesday (when he’s due to pitch) or Thursday for some extra rest.

Ohtani had gone hitless in five straight games, which was likely part of why he wasn’t asked to hit in his mound start last night. The encouraging development from him lately is that he’s 5-for-5 stealing bases in his last 13 games. He never attempted any in his first 20 games.

The runs came on homers from Christian Walker in the second and Braden Shewmake in the third. Shewmake’s was a 337-footer that would have left only four ballparks. Ohtani allowed just two other hits, walked none and struck out eight. The homers were the first two he’s allowed this year, and he’s still given up just four earned runs through 37 innings. He’ll likely make his next start next Tuesday against the Giants, and he should be back in the lineup as a DH on Wednesday after being excluded tonight.

As expected, Ohtani will pitch exclusively against the Astros at Daikin Park on Tuesday night with rookie Dalton Rushing occupying the DH spot and leading off. The 31-year-old two-way sensation is out of the lineup while pitching for the third time in recent weeks. The positive news here is that he appears to be fully healthy and the decision isn’t injury-related.

The Dodgers made a late decision to reverse course here after initially saying that Ohtani would hit as well as pitch. Ohtani went 0-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored in the 8-3 win over the Astros on Monday.