LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani, having fully recovered from the biceps injury that forced him to exit a recent game early, is lined up to make his last start before the All-Star break Friday.
Ohtani was replaced by a pinch hitter in the seventh inning of last Friday’s game against the San Diego Padres. Ohtani started that game on the mound but said he felt tightness in his right biceps while hitting in the bottom of the sixth. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts followed by giving him the day off Saturday and mentioned the possibility of skipping his next pitching start, too.
It seems that will no longer be necessary.
“As he goes through the next couple days, if he doesn’t feel great, we’ll pivot, and we’re prepared to pivot,” Roberts said before Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies. “But as we sit here, I don’t see that changing.”
Ohtani, slashing .294/.409/.535 with 19 home runs as a hitter and 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA as a pitcher, was the leading vote-getter for this year’s All-Star Game and will once again start at designated hitter. But he is not expected to pitch in the game, nor are the Dodgers anticipating him taking part in the Home Run Derby.
Doing so would contradict the precaution the Dodgers have taken with him as he navigates his first two-way season in three years.
“I would love it, but I do think that when you’re Shohei, he understands the responsibility he has,” Roberts said. “I do think that there’s a middle for what’s best for him, what potentially could be downside, but also what’s best for the game. So, don’t see him in the Home Run Derby, don’t see him pitching, but I do see him taking an at-bat or two.”
