MILWAUKEE — Shohei OhtaniThe Dodgers' first appearance in the NL Championship Series won't come until Game 4 in Los Angeles on Friday.
Tyler Glasnow will start Game 3 and Ohtani will start Game 4, coach Dave Roberts said Tuesday, a day after his team beat Milwaukee 2-1 in the opener.
Ohtani made his postseason pitching debut on October 4 and allowed three runs over six innings in a 5–3 victory over Philadelphia in Game 1 of the NL Division Series.
“Shohei is resting well,” Roberts said. “(It) potentially lines him up if we need a Game 7 out of the bullpen. Game 3, we feel like Tyler is getting regular rest, so that kind of lines him up as well. So all of these things just make sense.”
Roberts said before the NLCS that Ohtani's delay in pitching had nothing to do with the three-time MVP's decline in performance. The two-way star was 1-for-18 with nine strikeouts against Philadelphia.
Ohtani was 0-for-2 and pitched three times against the Brewers on Monday.
Ohtani could win his fourth MVP award after hitting .282 with a .392 on-base percentage, 55 homers, 102 RBIs and 20 steals. He returned to the mound on June 16 after elbow surgery in September 2023 and went 1–1 with a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 47 innings in 14 starts.
Glasgow went 4-3 with a 3.19 ERA during the regular season and tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings in the NLDS.
Blake Snell started Monday, and the two-time Cy Young Award winner allowed one hit while facing at least 24 batters in eight innings. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was scheduled to start the second game.
