LOS ANGELES — The temptation has been there just about every time Shohei Ohtani has taken the mound as a pitcher this season.
“Oh, every outing,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman acknowledged.
“Every single outing it’s like, ‘Yeah, maybe one more.’ As much as we want that – he wants that.”
But the Dodgers have been diligent in adhering to their plan to build Ohtani’s innings slowly and carefully. He didn’t touch the fourth inning until his seventh start as a pitcher and didn’t complete the inning that day, leaving after experiencing cramps in his right hip.
He went the mandated four innings Wednesday (throwing a season-high 54 pitches) and no farther despite striking out the final four batters he faced.
“I think it’s more about evaluating after every outing,” Friedman said. “We’re doing this in a very methodical way and we’ll continue to build. Where that stops, we’re not sure yet. We’ll continue to monitor how he’s holding his stuff, how his body is responding, all of those different insights we can get after each outing. But we will continue to build up. To where and what does that mean, we’re not sure yet.
“But we want to make sure and do it in his first year in a very methodical way. He has designs of pitching for eight years after this and we want to make this as possible as we can.”
Friedman would not put a cap on how far the Dodgers want Ohtani to be built up going into a his first postseason as a pitcher. But it seems unlikely the Dodgers would ask Ohtani to pitch more than five innings in a regular-season game.
“If he keeps pitching like this we would,” Friedman said with a chuckle. “My dream is to get seven (innings from starters in the playoffs).”
Friedman can dream – he has experienced the opposite, dealing with nightmare starting pitching situations the past two postseasons.
But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts agreed that stretching Ohtani out beyond five innings on the mound during the regular season won’t be necessary.
“We don’t need him to,” Roberts said. “I think that it’s possible. I’m not saying it’s unlikely. The five-inning threshold is something that we feel can get you through a game and use relievers (for the rest of the game). So you’re still weighing the cost of getting him more beyond that, right? So I think that the five-inning threshold, we’re very comfortable with. Now going forward, we’ll see if that changes. But I think for sure for the next few turns, I don’t see him getting beyond five.”
With their starting rotation mostly healthy, the Dodgers could have the option of using Ohtani differently in the postseason – imagine him coming out of the bullpen for them the way he did to close out Team Japan’s victory in the World Baseball Classic. However, the two-way player rule allows Ohtani to remain in the game as DH after he leaves a game as the starting pitcher – but it does not allow him to continue as DH after a relief appearance. Essentially, if the Dodgers use Ohtani out of the bullpen, it would have to be as closer.
Kiké’s progress
A month after going on the injured list with a sprained left elbow, Kiké Hernandez has started making progress in his rehab. Roberts said Hernandez’s elbow has responded well to a cortisone shot and platelet-rich plasma treatment.
Hernandez was on the field going through conditioning drills in the outfield before Wednesday’s game and has been able to play catch (since the injury was to his left elbow).
“He’s moving around but it’s still a ways away. He’s still got to do the baseball activities,” Roberts said. “But it’s a good sign that he’s throwing. But the bat is still going to be the interesting one because that was the issue with the left elbow. And there’s going to be a rehab assignment.”
Meanwhile, Hyeseong Kim has begun taking ground balls in workouts and hitting in the batting cage. He went on the IL last week with bursitis in his left shoulder. Roberts said he could start hitting on the field Friday.
Also
Right-hander Jack Little was claimed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Little was designated for assignment Monday when the Dodgers claimed 1B-DH Luken Baker on waivers from the Cardinals.
Up next
The Dodgers are off Thursday.
Blue Jays (RHP Max Scherzer, 2-1, 4.39) at Dodgers (LHP Clayton Kershaw, 5-2, 3.29 ERA), 7:10 p.m. Friday, SportsNet LA, 570 AM
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