Dodgers’ Dave Roberts reveals Shohei Ohtani pitching decision for WBC
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke at DodgerFest and revealed Shohei Ohtani’s status for the World Baseball Classic in terms of pitching.
According to Roberts, Ohtani will not be pitching in the WBC for Team Japan. His statement comes amid Ohtani leaving the door open to pitching while not fully shutting down the idea.
Ohtani’s status for the WBC has long been up in the air, dating back months since the season ended. He pitched throughout the postseason for the Dodgers while also hitting every day in the lineup.
He even pitched on short rest during the World Series, pushing his body to the limit.
In the aftermath of the postseason push, Ohtani has decided not to pitch in the WBC but to play only as the designated hitter.
Naturally, Roberts and the Dodgers are happy that their best player will not stress his body further over the offseason; instead, he will keep his hitting sharp while keeping his shoulder steady.
“Well, he’s not gonna pitch in the WBC, but he will be ramping up his arm to get ready for this season and I think for me is I don’t know how many innings he threw last year, but obviously with the full offseason going north of what he did last year,” Roberts said at the event.
“I wasn’t surprised, so I can’t even say I was relieved. I think that he wants to, understanding what he did last year, what he had to go through to then, how best to prepare himself for 26 to do both, it just seemed like the right decision, so I wasn’t surprised and feel really good about it.”
Will Shohei Ohtani pitch to start the season?
While Ohtani will not be pitching for the WBC, he will be ready for the Dodgers on opening day, though the exact nature of the rotation remains unclear.
Roberts has said that Ohtani will get extra rest compared to a regular pitcher, with an extra day off, but the order of the starters remains a question.
The Dodgers have multiple capable starters — Blake Snell, Yoshinbou Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki, just to name a few — that will give Ohtani plenty of cover.
