Dodgers need to continue boosting offense by using Shohei Ohtani in any way possible
In retrospect, the secret weapon Dodgers manager Dave Roberts deployed on Wednesday was only surprising because he hadn’t used it before.The Dodgers were down by a run to the Rays, and Roberts had the best hitter in baseball available to pinch-hit.So what if he was the starting pitcher? Why wouldn’t Roberts insert him into the game?Never mind that by the time Shohei Ohtani stepped into the batter’s box in the sixth inning, Freddie Freeman had crushed a two-run homer that gave the Dodgers a 5-4 lead they held for the remainder of the game; or that the at-bat was uneventful, with Ohtani grounding out on the first pitch thrown to him by Rays reliever Kevin Kelly.The Dodgers have found another way to use Ohtani: On days in which he pitches but isn’t in the offensive lineup, he can pinch-hit.The more choices a manager has, the better, and Ohtani has presented Roberts with a new option as he tries to balance concerns over his two-way workload and the ramifications of removing his bat from the order.Baseball’s rules permit a pitcher to pinch-hit for a designated hitter.The main drawback is that by doing so, a team will forfeit the designated hitter for the remainder of the game.In the case on Wednesday, Ohtani was still in the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he’d just pitched the top half of the frame.
He batted for Miguel Rojas, who was the designated hitter.That spot in the order never came up again, but if it did, the Dodgers would have to send their pitcher into the batter’s box or use another pinch hitter. “We were ahead, would I have fired that bullet?” Roberts asked rhetorically.
“Probably less likely.But, again, you know, there isn’t much cost if he feels like he can take the at-bat, whether you’re up one or down one or whatever.”For his part, Ohtani welcomed the assignment.“I’m ready to go whenever I’m told to,” Ohtani said in Japanese.Ohtani explained that he hits in the batting cages before games he pitches, regar...