{"id":15894,"date":"2026-06-18T04:03:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T04:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15894"},"modified":"2026-06-18T04:03:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T04:03:42","slug":"alexander-one-bad-inning-is-no-reason-for-dodgers-to-worry-about-ohtani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15894","title":{"rendered":"Alexander: One bad inning is no reason for Dodgers to worry about Ohtani"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LOS ANGELES \u2014 Nobody\u2019s perfect. Not even The Unicorn.<\/p>\n

(Then again, when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts responded to Shohei Ohtani\u2019s untidy fifth inning in Wednesday afternoon\u2019s 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays by saying, \u201cI mean, I don\u2019t think anyone expected him to just never give up runs,\u201d I was tempted to tell him he obviously doesn\u2019t hear from the same fans that I do.)<\/p>\n

Read more John Strong and Stuart Holden working a busy schedule as lead broadcasters to start their third World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

But it was one shoddy inning, on an afternoon when the blister on his pitching hand was acting up \u2013 visibly so, given the image of blood on his baseball pants. Plus, there was the question of whether the knee that he tweaked last week would affect his delivery.<\/p>\n

In the fifth, Ohtani pitched to nine Rays and gave up a walk, a double and four singles as the visitors took a 4-2 lead, though in fairness one of those hits was an infield single on which Ohtani and Freddie Freeman had a communications lapse, the upshot being that Ohtani was late covering first base and Cedric Mullins beat out the grounder to load the bases.<\/p>\n

Freeman wiped out all of that angst with a two-run homer to dead center in the seventh for a 5-4 lead, and the bullpen \u2013 so good in the month of May and so ragged during last week\u2019s road trip \u2013 took this one to the house, with Alex Vesia wriggling out of a self-created jam to earn his third save.<\/p>\n

But, even with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Justin Wrobleski consistently outstanding and Roki Sasaki showing more flashes of brilliance the past few weeks, it is Ohtani who will always be the focal point of this rotation and this roster, simply for having the audacity to do something no one else in baseball has ever attempted: Two full-time jobs at once.<\/p>\n

Which is why we heard talk, going back to spring training, about Ohtani\u2019s chances at winning a Cy Young Award to go with his four MVP trophies, and maybe one of each this year. It\u2019s why we\u2019ve heard talk of whether Roberts, the National League All-Star manager next month in Philadelphia, would start Ohtani or Yamamoto, and never mind that the Phillies\u2019 Cristopher Sanchez or the Milwaukee Brewers\u2019 hard-throwing Jacob Misiorowski are also legitimate candidates for that honor.<\/p>\n

And when Ohtani has the rare hiccup, as was the case Wednesday, it\u2019s news. Big news, especially in his home country.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

He came into Wednesday\u2019s game with a 6-2 record and 1.06 ERA in his previous 11 starts. He gave up three runs in 6\u2154 innings last Wednesday in Pittsburgh, the night the Dodgers\u2019 bullpen spit up a 6-1 lead in a 9-8 loss. The next night he tweaked his left knee, missed the first game of the White Sox series in Chicago, and was not the DH on Wednesday\u2019s lineup card against the Rays, the idea being to reduce his workload just a bit.<\/p>\n

Consider, too, that no one stirred in the Dodgers\u2019 bullpen during that four-run fifth inning until it was almost over, when left-hander Jack Dreyer started throwing. And Ohtani went back out for the sixth and got the Rays in order, on a strikeout, two groundouts and 15 pitches.<\/p>\n

Read more 15 countries in Kenya adopt the Mombasa Declaration to fight illegal fishing<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the pitch count (77 pitches through five innings) was good,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI thought about it, but just kind of talking to (pitching coach) Mark (Prior) and just watching Shohei, the stuff was still good. And just feeling like if we can get him through another inning, it would shorten who we need to use for the last three innings, and it worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyway, when you have a four-time MVP in your dugout, the temptation is too great to utilize him in every way possible. In the bottom of the sixth, after Freeman\u2019s homer had given the Dodgers the lead and with Ohtani not yet having been replaced as a pitcher, Roberts sent him up to pinch-hit for Miguel Rojas, the day\u2019s DH. It didn\u2019t work out; Ohtani grounded to short on the first pitch, and that move meant the Dodgers went without the DH for the rest of the game.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But why wouldn\u2019t<\/em> you take that chance?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that was more, he can hit a homer,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI talked to him and he said he felt really comfortable about taking the at-bat. That was the only chance we would have to hit him, in that inning. And so I just felt like, use that bullet and then you still have (Max) Muncy and Wardo (Ryan Ward) later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not taking his pitching turn, Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton, was never an option. The knee wasn\u2019t an issue, he said, and the biggest irritant wasn\u2019t anything physical but the leadoff walk he issued to Victor Mesa Jr. in that fifth inning. That was followed by a double to center by former Dodger prospect Hunter Feduccia to get the big inning started.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of situations where you feel 100%,\u201d Ohtani said. \u201cSo I just took it as that. And it\u2019s big that we were able to win a game like this. \u2026 Actually, I just felt good overall. It\u2019s just really that inning, that fifth inning that I wasn\u2019t really too pleased, but aside from that, the stuff was good and felt pretty good overall.\u201d<\/p>\n

As catcher Dalton Rushing put it, \u201cHe ran into a little trouble in the fifth, but I don\u2019t think it was any worry with his stuff. That\u2019s a pretty good offense. It knows how to put runs on the board. And that\u2019s the offense we\u2019re gonna face in October. So I think essentially he did his job.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Yes, that October reference might raise a few eyebrows throughout baseball. And while the Dodgers have earned the privilege of looking ahead a bit over the last few years, it\u2019s probably best not to be blatant about it. Especially in mid-June, even with a nine-game division lead.)<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously we expect close to perfection out of Sho every time he goes out there,\u201d Rushing continued. \u201cSo does he (expect that) out of himself. But \u2026 whether we get hit around here, hit around there, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s anything to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Archaeology team unearths \u2018prototype\u2019 of world-famous Stonehenge monument just a few miles away<\/a><\/p>\n

jalexander@scng.com<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dodgers overcome a four-run fourth to beat Tampa Bay, and the suspicion is that it\u2019s a blip rather than a trend from the player who will always be the focus of this rotation and roster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-columnist","category-represents-the-opinion-of-the-author-who-is-either-a-paid-columnist-or-an-unpaid-guest-columnist"],"yoast_head":"\nAlexander: One bad inning is no reason for Dodgers to worry about Ohtani - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15894\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alexander: One bad inning is no reason for Dodgers to worry about Ohtani - 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