LOS ANGELES — The long pause from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said as much, if not more, than his words.
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Asked if Shohei Ohtani would be better off as a hitter if he stopped his throwing progression in an attempt to return this season as a pitcher, Roberts hesitated for nearly 10 full seconds, likely considering the weight of his words.
“I do,” Roberts said finally.
At the very least, a definitive plan for Ohtani, instead of the suspended state where the team currently resides, would help to solidify a plan for the road ahead.
“I think that I certainly know the value of him pitching, but if you’re not 100 percent, there’s possibly some bleed-in to the performance offensively,” Roberts said “That’s just me kind of theorizing. But yeah, it’s his decision, honestly. If he feels like he’s capable, then we’ll run the plan out until it doesn’t make any sense.”
The Dodgers’ original hope, as Ohtani started to ramp himself back up as a pitcher following left knee and right biceps discomfort, was that he could possibly be built up to five innings by the time the playoffs arrived.
There is not enough time to reach that level now, but that doesn’t mean the club would not value a shorter contribution from the mound from Ohtani. As the club’s primary designated hitter, he doesn’t take a roster spot from the pitching staff, after all.
On Tuesday, Roberts said there would need to be a discussion at some point this week on an Ohtani pitching plan. He seemed to back off that stance Wednesday.
“You know, there’s no hard timeline because any inning that he gives us is added value given his roster availability,” Roberts said. “So to say that you could give us one inning or two innings (as a pitcher) is not valuable, that’s not true.
“The cost is, does it affect his health? So there’s really no timeline, definitive deadline to say, ‘Hey, this is where we’re going to stop.’ So that’s kind of where we’re at.”
The Dodgers hoped Ohtani would make a short start on Sunday in Detroit, but that plan was nixed when his bullpen session last Friday was cut short. Ohtani hasn’t thrown since, and the hope that he could possibly pitch an inning during the upcoming weekend against the Washington Nationals appears to be out as well.
“We will call up someone,” Roberts said when asked how the club will handle a roster vacancy over the weekend. “As we sit here today, Wednesday, at some point in the next week, I’m not sure as far as kind of the slotting of the rotation, but yeah, we will call someone up.”
Emmet Sheehan is expected to be called up to start, possibly on Sunday.
RELIEF FOR THE RELIEVERS
Veteran right-hander Blake Treinen was activated from the injured list and available out of the bullpen for the first time in 2½ months. He had been on the mend since June 20 with shoulder inflammation.
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Treinen slid into the roster spot made available when left-hander Eric Lauer went on the injured list. Lauer struggled in his start Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing seven runs over three innings in his worst outing since arriving in a May trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The move adds an extra arm to the bullpen for the time being. Before Tuesday’s series opener against the Cardinals, Roberts said Treinen’s return would be “very soon.”
Before he was shut down, Treinen was 4-1 with one save and a 3.52 ERA in 29 relief appearances. In six seasons with the Dodgers, he is 23-20 with 12 saves and a 2.84 ERA in 215 relief outings and a major contributor toward three World Series titles.
Lauer’s short start Tuesday required the bullpen to use five relievers, including left-hander Justin Wrobleski for two innings. Utility man Kiké Hernandez mopped up by pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Of the six total pitchers used, Hernandez was one of two who did not allow a run.
BUBIC BACKUP PLAN
Surprise trade deadline addition Kris Bubic made his debut at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday and had two strikeouts over one perfect inning. The left-hander last pitched on May 14 with the Kansas City Royals before he went on the IL with elbow discomfort.
The Dodgers acquired Bubic on Aug. 3 in exchange for minor league right-hander Carlos Duran.
An American League All-Star last season when he made 20 starts, Bubic was considered a low-risk, high-reward potential addition. The Dodgers have not ruled out using him at some point in the regular season and/or postseason.
“He’s a legitimate name,” Roberts said. “Proven starter, proven pitcher out of the ’pen, gets lefties out, righties out. The stuff is playing right now. … I think that if there’s an opportunity that presents itself, us getting eyes on him would be important.”
AROUND THE BASES
Former Dodgers utility man Chris Taylor threw out the first pitch on Wednesday, and it was no coincidence his appearance back in Dodger Stadium came with the St. Louis Cardinals in the opposite dugout. Taylor hit a walk-off home run against the Cardinals in a 2021 wild-card round game that eliminated St. Louis from the playoffs. “Man, this guy had a lot of big hits for the Dodgers. Huge hits,” Roberts said.
UP NEXT
Cardinals (LHP Quinn Mathews, 1-2, 5.03 ERA) vs. Dodgers (LHP Tarik Skubal, 8-7, 2.84 ERA), Thursday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM, 1020 AM
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