Shohei Ohtani looked playoff-ready on Tuesday.
In what will almost certainly be his final pitching start of the regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers star threw six innings for the first time of his Dodgers career against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The last time he lasted so long was Aug. 9, 2023 during his time with the Los Angeles Angels.
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They were a good six innings, with eight strikeouts, five hits, zero walks and zero runs allowed on 91 pitches. He topped out at 101.2 mph with his four-seam fastball and was still sitting at 99 in his sixth inning of work.
This season is Ohtani’s first as a pitcher with the Dodgers after missing all of last season as he rehabbed from UCL surgery at the end of 2023. The Dodgers have been cautious to an extreme with bringing him back, increasing his max innings only one at a time every few starts.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters last month the plan was to keep Ohtani limited to a five-inning maximum for the rest of the regular season, but he said before Tuesday’s game the team was reversing course.
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From Dodger Blue:
“I think it’s just more of, I mentioned it after his last start, for him to see it, for us to see it, to give us a little more options in the postseason and reach a marker we haven’t reached up to this point,” Roberts explained.
“And just feeling like we’ve got a really, really solid base. For me, the conversations, and I just don’t like the bait and switch. I feel really good with the conversation I had with Shohei about how today could potentially play out.”
Ohtani looking his best in his longest start is certainly a happy welcome development for the Dodgers. The right-hander has looked particularly lethal over his past four starts, with 27 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings and a 0.46 ERA (one earned run allowed).
The start also sets up Ohtani to be the Dodgers’ pitcher in Game 1 of their upcoming wild-card series next Tuesday. The club clinched the playoffs over the weekend and entered Tuesday with a 2.5 lead over the San Diego Padres for the NL West.
What L.A. does after Ohtani pitching-wise is a bit less nailed down.
What is the Dodgers’ postseason pitching plan?
For the past two seasons, the Dodgers have entered the postseason with the bare minimum amount of starting pitching and a well-stocked bullpen. They have the opposite problem in 2025.
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This year, the Dodgers are on track to enter October with six viable starting pitchers: Ohtani, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan. It seems likely Ohtani, Snell, Yamamoto and Glasnow will form the postseason rotation, with Sheehand and Kershaw coming out of the bullpen if they make the postseason roster at all.
Because Sheehan has relief experience, the bigger question would be Kershaw, but Roberts said Friday the Dodgers will likely have a spot for the legendary left-hander.
In addition, Roberts said Tuesday that rookie Roki Sasaki will be activated on Wednesday and serve as a reliever, hoping to recover some of the hype that defined his entrance into MLB.
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Any reinforcements will be welcome for the Dodgers bullpen, which has been bad for most of the season and horrendous over the past month or so. In the Dodgers’s six losses since Sept. 4, a reliever has taken the loss every time. The past five have all been placed on former closer Blake Treinen, who has transformed from a postseason weapon to a complete liability this year.
There can at least be some addition by subtraction. Treinen seems a longshot to get any meaningful innings, as does Kirby Yates, who joined the team on a $17 million contract this season. Another high-priced reliever, closer Tanner Scott, has looked shaky for much of the season but has looked better in recent weeks.
Right-hander Michael Kopech, one of the Dodgers’ best relievers last postseason, and trade deadline acquisition Brock Stewart are also both possibilities to return from the IL for the playoffs.
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There are still some effective relievers in the Dodgers bullpen, like Alex Vesia and Anthony Banda, but it’s been a mess all September, ranking sixth-worst in MLB with a 5.23 ERA. All that can be said is the unit will probably look a bit different in October.
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