Dodgers plan for Shohei Ohtani is unnecessarily risky

The Dodgers have lost this gamble once before.But that won’t stop them from placing the same wager again.Rather than take every precaution to ensure Shohei Ohtani doesn’t worsen the injuries to his right arm and left knee, the Dodgers will prioritize giving him at-bats to get him ready for the playoffs.Ohtani is expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list Wednesday, and manager Dave Roberts said the plan is for him to play in every one of the five games that remain in the regular season.“He’ll need those live at-bats,” Roberts said.This feels reckless — and unnecessarily risky, especially when considering what happened the last time the Dodgers were in this position, just earlier this month. Ohtani was experiencing discomfort in his arm and knee.

The Dodgers downplayed the severity of his injuries, with general manager Brandon Gomes claiming the physical problems weren’t responsible for his hitting slump and shouldn’t require him to be placed on the IL. So much for that.Roberts described Ohtani as being “pain-free” Sunday, but acknowledged he was still experiencing “discomfort you can play through.” Certain levels of discomfort can be tolerated — until they can’t be, of course.That’s been the story of Ohtani’s season.When Ohtani started feeling pain in his knee, he insisted he could pitch through it.

Until he couldn’t.When he started to be affected in the batter’s box by the throbbing in his arm and knee, he claimed he could play it.Until he couldn’t.Roberts said Ohtani’s condition has improved over the last two weeks. But Roberts also didn’t claim Ohtani was completely healthy. “Is he 100%?” Roberts said.

“Probably not.”In other words, what bothered Ohtani when he landed on the IL still bothers him, just not as much.This is a problem.What happened earlier this month showed that if Ohtani plays too many games with these particular injuries, he will reach a point where he won’t even be able to take ...