Shohei Ohtani will play in Dodgers regular-season finale but shouldnt
SAN FRANCISCO – Shohei Ohtani will play in the Dodgers’ regular-season finale, but why?The Dodgers held out Freddie Freeman and limited Blake Snell to four innings in a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.They can give Ohtani a break on Sunday.Four games into his return from a 15-day stay on the injured list, and Ohtani already doesn’t look right.He is 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in two games at Oracle Park this weekend, the solitary hit being a ground-ball single on Saturday that went under the glove of Giants infielder Brett Harris, who could have been charged with an error on the play.In his most recent game, Ohtani didn’t even swing the bat when he was on deck.Is his right arm hurting again?The Dodgers won’t acknowledge it, but Ohtani’s decline in form has to be a major concern for the organization, which not only has to figure out how to keep him healthy enough to withstand multiple rounds of the playoffs but also what it will do if he isn’t. Josue De Paula should remain on standby.Ohtani still figures to be the designated hitter for the Dodgers in the National League Division Series, which will start on Oct.
3.As demonstrated by the caution exercised by the San Diego Padres when pitching to him earlier in the week, his presence alone is valuable.But if the Dodgers advance to the next round, what happens then, especially if Ohtani continues to play the way he has in San Francisco?He’s followed two promising games at Dodger Stadium with two games in which he’s once again looking like he did when he was in a crippling slump leading up to his IL stint.For what it’s worth, manager Dave Roberts said he didn’t think any of this was health-related.
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