LOS ANGELES — Despite Shohei Ohtani‘s multi-hit night that snapped his two-week-long home run drought on Tuesday night, the two-way superstar is out of the lineup for the third game of the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ rivalry series against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, May 13.
The move doesn’t come as a surprise, as manager Dave Roberts had confirmed postgame Tuesday that Ohtani would not hit Wednesday after previously saying he was “leaning towards” sitting the two-way superstar for his outing on the mound in addition to a planned day off for Thursday’s series finale.
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“We were both good with it,” Roberts said. “I don’t like the baby switch. I think that sometimes that might have been something where you know you get a couple days off of hitting, and it might have freed him up. So, you just never know and to go back on a pact or a decision that we came upon or I came upon, I don’t like that.”
Mookie Betts will take the leadoff spot on Wednesday while Teoscar Hernández will be the Dodgers’ designated hitter.
Roberts said that while Ohtani will not DH on Thursday, either, he may make him available to pinch-hit late in the game if the situation calls for it. But as currently planned, this will mark the first time Ohtani will be out of the lineup on two consecutive days for a non-injury or paternity leave-related reason since 2021, according to Jack Harris of the California Post.
Though the pitfalls of not having a guy that’s hit over 50 home runs in each of the last two seasons in the lineup are obvious, Roberts believes this will only help Ohtani in the long run as an opportunity to physically and mentally reset.
This is the first time in almost three years that Ohtani has the workload of both a full-time hitter and a full-time pitcher. He underwent a second surgical procedure on his throwing elbow in September 2023, three months before signing a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers. Ohtani only played DH in his first year in LA and founded the 50/50 club as he rehabbed his right arm.
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A shoulder subluxation in his right shoulder during the 2024 World Series delayed his offseason throwing program, and Ohtani didn’t appear on the mound for the Dodgers until June 16, 2025.
Even then, he slowly built up his workload and didn’t reach six innings until September. But now, Ohtani’s been full-go since spring at 31 years old. Roberts believes the fatigue from that has bled into his mechanics at the plate, leading to his slow start offensively this season.
Ohtani seemed to turn a corner at the plate in Tuesday’s 6-2 loss to the Giants, starting the game off with a leadoff single into right field and later connecting on a sinker from San Francisco starter Adrian Houser for his first home run in his last 52 plate appearances, dating back to April 26 against the Chicago Cubs.
Even though Roberts was encouraged by the reigning back-to-back NL MVP’s performance and acknowledged the cons of not having him in the lineup, he’s still sticking to his guns that this decision won’t put a stop to any rhythm he might have created on Tuesday.
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“You’re still pitching and you just can’t be reactive over one game. You really can’t,” Roberts said. “I’ve talked about the workload, and I’ve talked to him at length about it. It’s tough on days he pitches so I don’t think it’s fair to the player just to assume he got a couple knocks so he should be in there tomorrow. I don’t like playing that game.”
It’s all part of the learning process Roberts has gone through over the last two years when it comes to managing a generational player like Ohtani.
“He’s always gonna want to do more,” Roberts said. “He has that sense of responsibility to his teammates, and he wants to be out there on both ways. And so, I think that I’ve learned that I have to be proactive and take it out of his hands, like most great players.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why isn’t Shohei Ohtani hitting vs. Giants tonight? What to know
