{"id":5750,"date":"2026-05-13T04:04:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T04:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5750"},"modified":"2026-05-13T04:04:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T04:04:28","slug":"dodgers-plan-to-give-shohei-ohtani-a-dh-break-amid-slump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5750","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers plan to give Shohei Ohtani a DH break amid slump"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LOS ANGELES \u2014 The latest plan for Shohei Ohtani involves a day this week when he is neither pitching nor hitting.<\/p>\n

Read more Angels waste offensive opportunities in loss to Guardians<\/a><\/p>\n

In an attempt to address Ohtani\u2019s offensive struggles, and a recent home-run drought, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani will open Thursday night\u2019s game on the bench as a way to get some \u201cR and R.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rest and relaxation will be relative. Ohtani will be pitching on Wednesday night against the San Francisco Giants, with Roberts saying he still has not decided if his star two-way player will be used as a hitter on that day either. He is leaning toward not using Ohtani as the designated hitter on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Ohtani would still be available as a pinch hitter.<\/p>\n

Even before the plan goes into practice, it already seems to be working. Ohtani hit a home run in the third inning on Tuesday, his first in 53 plate appearances.<\/p>\n

Ohtani not only has been fighting his hitting mechanics, his uncanny ability to identify pitches also has failed him of late. Roberts does not deny that Ohtani looks fatigued as he returns to a full season of pitching and hitting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the fatigue is bleeding into the mechanics,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI think that most players get that towards the end of the summer. And \u2026 it has probably shown itself a little earlier, as far as the tax on pitching and all that comes with hitting too.\u201d<\/p>\n

A turning point for his offensive downturn seems to have come when he was hit in the right shoulder by a 94-mph sinker from the New York Mets\u2019 David Peterson on April 13. While Ohtani has pitched well since then, including allowing one run on two hits over six innings two days after he was hit by a pitch, his exit velocity has been down.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Ohtani\u2019s exit velocity on balls in play over his first 15 games of the season was 94.0 mph, according to MLB Statcast. The day after he was hit by Peterson\u2019s pitch, through Monday\u2019s game against the Giants, Ohtani had an average exit velocity of 91.8 mph.<\/p>\n

Ohtani\u2019s home run Tuesday had a 105.9 mph exit velocity.<\/p>\n

His average bat speed has been steady all season at 74.7 mph, but it is slightly below the past two seasons. Average bat speed across MLB is 71.7 mph this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the exit velocity, he\u2019s catching the ball deeper in some instances on (pitches) that are at the belt, and catching the ball out front on balls that are down below with spin,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cSo that\u2019s sort of a bad combo, and makes sense for the lack of exit velo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Over his previous 26 games, Ohtani had just one home run, on April 26 against the Chicago Cubs. He went 59 plate appearances between home runs from April 12-26. Batting .233 with 16 RBIs for the season, he was just 4 for 36 at the plate this month through Monday.<\/p>\n

Roberts has been trying to address the situation by not using Ohtani as a hitter on three occasions when he has been the starting pitcher. The plan for a day off Thursday takes things even further.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, with any hitter, when the quality of at-bat starts to go down consistently, I think that\u2019s a telling sign there needs to be a break,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBecause you\u2019re just not able to \u2013 whether it\u2019s the mechanics, the mind \u2013 just stay within your game plan, and then the chase starts to spike. There\u2019s a workload component with some players, but that are more on the defensive side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more St. John Bosco baseball scores in 11th inning to beat Cypress in playoff thriller<\/a><\/p>\n

Roberts got his first taste of managing Ohtani as a player and pitcher last season. Now he is getting a look at it from the first day of the season, all while Ohtani is pitching six innings per week and not the light pitching schedule he started with last season when he returned to the mound.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m learning that you have to be proactive,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cHe\u2019s always gonna want to do more. He always has that sense of responsibility to his teammates, that he wants to be out there both ways. So I\u2019ve learned that I have to be proactive and take it out of his hands, like with most great players.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Ohtani hit 54 home runs in 2024 and 55 more last season, he is on pace to hit 24 this season. As a pitcher, Ohtani has worked himself into the early Cy Young Award discussion with a 0.97 ERA through six outings (37 innings), with 42 strikeouts.<\/p>\n

Doing double duty seems to be taking its toll after less than two months, but Roberts would not have it any other way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely feels sustainable,\u201d the manager said of his star\u2019s two-way duty. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s more difficult. I think we all came in knowing that we had to read and react. It was gonna be fluid. It should be. It\u2019s very unique. \u2026 No one thought it was gonna be easy. No one thought it was gonna be linear.\u201d<\/p>\n

INTO THE SWING<\/h4>\n

Outfielder Alek Thomas, who was acquired in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for 17-year-old outfield prospect Jose Requena, will be on standby in the minor leagues as the club works on his swing mechanics.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur expectation is that we do a deep dive on his swing and try to figure out if there\u2019s some things we can unlock,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Thomas, 26, was optioned to the Arizona Complex League before an eventual assignment at Triple-A Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n

Thomas had 28 career home runs and a .230 batting average in five seasons with the Diamondbacks but was batting just .181 in 28 games this season. He has elite range as a center fielder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the opportunity presents itself, (we will) get him up here,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always liked him and thought highly of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

UP NEXT<\/h4>\n

Giants (LHP Robbie Ray, 3-4, 2.76 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Shohei Ohtani, 2-2, 0.97), Wednesday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM, 1020 AM<\/p>\n

Read more Orange Lutheran baseball wins playoff opener against Corona Santiago<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Batting .233 with six home runs and 16 RBIs in his first full season as a two-way player for the Dodgers, Ohtani likely won\u2019t be in the lineup as the DH on Thursday and Manager Dave Roberts says he\u2019s also considering not having Ohtani hit on Wednesday when he pitches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDodgers plan to give Shohei Ohtani a DH break amid slump - 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=5750\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dodgers plan to give Shohei Ohtani a DH break amid slump - 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