Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sunday that Shohei Ohtani will make his next start on Tuesday night against the Miami Marlins rather than Wednesday, shifting the team’s pitching calendar for the Marlins Vs Dodgers matchup.
The move will have Ohtani toe the rubber on five days of rest instead of his customary six or more. Roberts pointed to Tyler Glasnow’s heavy workload in San Francisco as the immediate reason: “Tyler pitched a lot,” he said after Glasnow threw 105 pitches over eight scoreless innings on Thursday. The club also has an off day on Thursday.
Ohtani has been exceptional on the mound this season, allowing just one earned run in 24 innings across four starts. Over the past two years he has made 18 regular-season pitching starts with the Dodgers — only two of those came on five days’ rest — a stat that lays out how unusual this scheduling tweak is.
Offensively, Ohtani arrived at Sunday’s game with a.240 batting average and a.801 OPS and had managed just two hits in 19 at-bats before going 3 for 3 on Sunday with a double and his first home run since April 12.
Roberts said the decision was discussed with Ohtani: “That’s the thing. We don’t have to just be beholden to the off day (following an Ohtani start). We talked to Shohei. He feels good about going on Tuesday.” The manager added that giving players small extra margins of rest was part of the thinking: “It’s one of those where he could play if needed. But we just thought it was smart to give him an extra day. I guess put him in the day-to-day category.”
The short turn is partly a product of strain elsewhere in the rotation. Blake Snell began a rehab assignment with Class-A Ontario on Wednesday, throwing 32 pitches while facing eight batters, and is expected to make his next start for Ontario again this week. River Ryan opened the season with Triple-A Oklahoma City but went on the injured list after two starts with a hamstring issue; general manager Brandon Gomes said the injury is not considered serious and that Ryan has already resumed throwing.
Gomes framed the club’s approach to young pitchers returning from injury as deliberately cautious. “somebody who is that talented, that young, coming off (Tommy John) surgery, we’re going to be prudent in the build-up and make sure we err on the side of caution rather than just ramping him back up to say, ‘Oh, River’s back at four innings and is an option.’ We’re just not gonna do that. So he’s progressing well coming off the hamstring tweak,” Gomes said, later noting that “Velocity is tracking well.” On Gavin Stone, who had a setback in his recovery from shoulder surgery and was shut down from throwing, Gomes said he has resumed bullpen sessions and added, “Glad to see Gavin back at it.”
Catching depth also shaped Sunday’s lineup choices. Will Smith was given a second consecutive day off with a sore back; Roberts called the days off precautionary and said there is no expectation Smith will need more extensive time away. Dalton Rushing started behind the plate for the ninth time this season and entered the day with a.400 batting average and seven home runs.
The tension is plain: the Dodgers must balance protecting Ohtani’s long-term health and two-way workload against immediate rotation needs made sharper by other pitchers’ rehab timelines and a heavy Glasnow outing. The club’s short-term fix — moving Ohtani to a five-day turnaround while preserving the team’s Thursday off — answers an immediate gap without abandoning the cautious rebuild plan for pitchers returning from surgery or injury.
Shohei Ohtani will make his scheduled start Tuesday night against the Miami Marlins, the next clear test of whether the Dodgers’ compromise between rest and necessity pays off this week.
