The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the season as the World Series favorites and have looked like the best bet for a championship all season.
With three former MVPs leading their batting order, one of the best bullpens in baseball and of Major League Baseball’s largest payroll, there might be only one considerable weakness for the Dodgers: their pitching health.
The Dodgers have cycled through dozens of hurlers this season amid a rash of injuries that have impacted Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and many others. But as they prepare for a playoff run, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times has urged the team to push the best pitcher on the staff back onto the bump in October.
“This season’s savior pitcher? Shohei Ohtani,” Plaschke wrote. “This could happen. This should happen… Game 7 of the World Series, ninth inning, they need someone to stare down the New York Yankees’ Juan Soto and Aaron Judge … why not Ohtani?”
Ohtani injured a ligament in his elbow last year before signing a record-breaking $ 700 million contract to join the Dodgers. He has been limited to a designated hitter role as he recovers from offseason surgery, though that hasn’t stopped him from slashing .290/.373/.612 with 46 homers and 47 stolen bases up to this point.
As Ohtani’s recovery proceeds, though, Plaschke has suggested there isn’t any real reason to keep him from contributing to the beleaguered pitching staff as the Dodgers seek a World Series championship.
“By the time the postseason begins, Ohtani should be ready to pitch competitively,” Plaschke noted. “So if he physically can do it, and he’s already done it successfully, and, considering how badly he wants to win a championship, he surely is willing to do it … so why not let him do it?”
Ohtani excelled in an incredibly high-leverage situation last year, striking out then-teammate Mike Trout for the final out of the World Baseball Classic. And while it can be hard to imagine there is anything on a baseball diamond that Ohtani cannot do, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came up with at least one reason why he might keep Ohtani off the mound for the rest of the season.
“The problem is, in reality, he hasn’t thrown a leverage pitch in over a year,” Roberts told Plaschke. “If he were to come out and it does go awry, it’s not worth potential injury. You just cannot duplicate the stress of that one inning. I just don’t think it’s worth it.”
Still, if and when the Dodgers find themselves facing down a final batter in the World Series, who knows? Ohtani might just get the chance to make even more history.
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