Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts addressed his plan for managing Shohei Ohtani through the knee soreness issue that the slugger has battled.
Ohtani, for months now, has been nursing his left knee as a result of his pitching workload. He was pitching once a week while taking 4-5 at-bats daily, something he seemed to handle well until his body told him to take it easy.
Rather than push himself in the middle of the regular season, Ohtani has been open to sitting out games, while also taking a break from his pitching ventures as a way of preserving his body for the postseason, where he will no doubt want a full two-way role.
Manager Dave Roberts has given Ohtani some rest recently, including a game in late July after the Japanese star reported some increased soreness.
Credit to Ohtani, he has a very honest line of communication with the team, putting aside his burning desire to play every single game.
The Dodgers are left grappling with Ohtani’s importance to the lineup and any knee issue, but as of right now, Ohtani is in a place where he does not need rest, and Roberts will not simply sit for the sake of it.
“I think with Sho, he’s obviously not pitching, so that work part of it is not a variable. It’s not part of his routine. He’s playing catch, potentially going to throw a bullpen soon, but there is extra work with the pitching stuff,” Roberts said of Ohtani to the media, including Dodgers Nation’s Ava Brand.
“He is taking four or five at-bats a night and I think that, physically, he’s in a good spot to manage that. If I see something different, then I am open to giving him an off-day, but I’m not going to do that just to do it.”
For the immediate run of games, Ohtani does not have any planned rest for the Brewers series through Sunday, though Dave Roberts did say they will check in on him before heading to Colorado.
The elevation demands of playing on the road against the Rockies may be a factor, but as long as Ohtani does not suffer any noticeable pain, odds are he will be a full-go, even if his pitching progress may take a backseat while in Colorado.