LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers are giving their superstar Shohei Ohtani some time away from hitting as his struggles at the plate continue to mount.
The two-way phenom has managed just four hits in 36 at-bats during the month of May, and his season statistics show a concerning trend with a .233 batting average, only six home runs, and 16 RBIs. Most notably, he hasn’t connected for a single home run all month.
Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts announced Tuesday that Ohtani won’t serve as the team’s designated hitter on Thursday, though he could be called upon if the game situation demands it. Roberts is also considering keeping Ohtani out of the batter’s box Wednesday when he takes the mound against the San Francisco Giants.
“It might just be a good thing to take a little bit of a load off of his plate offensively,” Roberts explained. “I just can’t take for granted what’s on his plate and so I’m trying to be sensitive.”
The Dodgers’ fortunes have mirrored their star player’s struggles, as the team sits at 24-17 and trails the NL West-leading San Diego Padres by half a game after dropping three consecutive games. While Andy Pages has excelled with a .325 average and Max Muncy is hitting .280, the rest of the lineup has faltered, including veteran Freddie Freeman at .273 and Kyle Tucker at .250.
This marks Ohtani’s first complete season handling both pitching and hitting responsibilities since joining the Dodgers. After undergoing two significant right elbow surgeries, he was restricted to designated hitter duties in 2024, when he made history by joining the exclusive 50/50 club with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases while earning NL MVP honors and helping the Dodgers capture the World Series.
During the previous campaign, Ohtani didn’t return to pitching until the middle of the season and wasn’t built up to throw six innings until September. Despite the limited mound time, he still managed 55 home runs and 20 stolen bases, earning another NL MVP award as the Dodgers repeated as World Series champions.
While his hitting has been problematic, Ohtani has been exceptional on the pitching side this year. The right-hander boasts a 2-2 record with an outstanding 0.97 ERA, striking out 42 batters across 37 innings in six starts. He’s surrendered just four earned runs and 21 hits.
“He’s still calibrating on this kind of newfound two-way player,” Roberts observed.
Roberts acknowledges that while Ohtani is always willing to do whatever benefits the team, the manager must sometimes protect his most valuable player from his own competitive drive.
“He’s always going to want to do more,” Roberts noted. “He has that sense of responsibility to his teammates that he wants to be out there on both ways. I’ve learned that I have to be proactive and take it out of his hands.”
The manager believes he’s seen enough evidence to determine that removing the bat from Ohtani’s hands temporarily could help him find his rhythm again.
“When the quality of at-bats starts to go down consistently, I think that’s a sign that there needs to be a break because you’re just not able to stay within your game plan and then the chase starts to spike,” he explained. “The fatigue is bleeding into the mechanics. Most players get that towards the end of the summer. Now I’m learning managing Shohei it’s probably showing itself a little earlier as far as the tax on pitching and all that comes with it to the hitting, too.”
Ohtani isn’t accustomed to sitting out hitting duties, having appeared as the designated hitter in all but three games this season. Roberts even suggested the star player arrive late to the ballpark Thursday.
The organization anticipated challenges when they decided to have Ohtani resume full two-way duties for the first time since his 2023 season with the Los Angeles Angels.
“It definitely feels sustainable,” Roberts said. “I wouldn’t say it’s more difficult. I think that we all came in knowing that we had to read and react, it was going to be fluid. It should be. It’s very unique.”
