Forget about pitching.
The Dodgers have to brace themselves for the possibility that they will enter the playoffs with a physically diminished version of Shohei Ohtani as their designated hitter.
Ohtani’s body is broken.
Ohtani’s form in the batter’s box has made that obvious, so much so that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has abandoned the pretense that the injuries that have kept the two-way player from pitching aren’t affecting his hitting.
Preparing Ohtani for October will be Roberts’ No. 1 priority over the final month of the regular season, but what if he’s already past the point of no return?
Ohtani has been dealing with problems with his right biceps for the last few months, and he was shaking that arm during and after his final at-bat in the Dodgers’ 10-inning, 8-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.
Of equal, if not greater, concern has to be his throbbing left knee, which has kept him from staying back on pitches and generating power. Looking as if he was hitting on one leg, Ohtani struck out four times in the game.
The postseason starts in about a month. Ohtani might not have enough time to improve the condition of his knee, no matter how many days off Roberts gives him between now and the regular-season finale in San Francisco on Sept. 27.
“Is a day or two, or I mean, shoot, even 10 days, is that going to help get him to be 100%?” Roberts said. “Don’t know the answer, but I think where we’re at, I think he’s just going to have to find a way to make do and do the best he can.”
Decisions made weeks and months ago by the Dodgers have produced a series of consequences that can’t be reversed.
Rather than place Ohtani on the injured list, they permitted him to play with pain. Instead of pushing him to focus on hitting, they supported his efforts to return to the mound.
The wagers were lost. Ohtani hasn’t pitched since July 3, and his injuries have worsened to where he’s now a non-threat in the batter’s box. Over his last 12 games, he is 6-for-46 with 19 strikeouts and no home runs.
“Clearly, the swings aren’t who he is,” Roberts said. “Obviously, there’s some compensation.”
The feared slugger who blasted 55 home runs last year isn’t coming back, at least not this year.
As Roberts implied, the Dodgers will have to make the best of a bad situation.
In addition to figuring out how much of a break Ohtani needs, they will have to decide whether he should continue his attempted pitching comeback. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said earlier this week that he envisioned Ohtani returning to the mound this season.
With or without Ohtani available to pitch, however, the Dodgers have a rotation that will keep them in every game and every series they play. When Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell or Tyler Glasnow are on the mound, games will be low scoring. The Dodgers can win a game without scoring 10 runs.
That doesn’t make Ohtani’s bat obsolete. As many big-name players as the Dodgers have in their lineup, they remain extremely dependent on Ohtani to create offense.
Roberts sounded resigned to the likelihood that Ohtani wouldn’t be pain-free in the postseason.
“To expect him to be 100% … I don’t know,” Roberts said.
In that case, how Ohtani performs could come down to how much discomfort he can take. Whatever his physical issues, Ohtani has played in 133 of the Dodgers’ 139 games. He has a high pain tolerance.
“He’s as strong mentally as a player as I’ve been around,” Roberts said.
Perhaps even too strong.
The Dodgers have learned there are times Ohtani has to be protected from himself. They have also learned his body has limits.
This experience should be valuable in future seasons, as it could help them create a playing schedule that will allow him to stay healthy while playing both ways.
But that won’t help them now.
Ohtani is hurt. That’s a problem Ohtani and the Dodgers will have to find a way to work around.
