MILWAUKEE — Entrance National League Championship Series this weekThe Dodgers' pitching plan seemed simple.
After Yoshinobu Yamamoto And Tyler Glasnow started the team's last two games Victory in the NL Division Series over the Philadelphia Phillies, Shohei Ohtani And Blake Snell were next in line for Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.
All the Dodgers had to do was insert Snell into Game 1 on Monday, which would give him the opportunity to reapply for four days' rest in Game 5. They could then send Ohtani into Game 2 on Tuesday, allowing him to pitch before Wednesday's scheduled off day (which was the team's preference for the two-way star) and be ready for his next start if the series returns to Milwaukee for Games 6 and 7.
However, manager Dave Roberts announced a different plan on Sunday.
Snell will indeed enter Game 1 looking to build on the 1.38 ERA he posted in his first two starts this postseason.
But instead of Ohtani, Yamamoto will get the ball in Game 2, pushing Ohtani's next pitching appearance to sometime later in the series, Roberts said.
“We just don't know what day,” Roberts said of when Ohtani will get the ball. “But at some point he will pitch.”
This arrangement was a surprise, but also had advantages from the Dodgers' perspective.
Unlike Ohtani, who has been given at least six days' rest between each service outing since early July, Yamamoto has typically been given five days' rest this season. Starting him in Game 2 would allow him to stick to the same schedule to pitch a potential Game 6, something the Dodgers would be less comfortable with if Ohtani did that.
Of course, by pushing Ohtani to at least Game 3, the Dodgers would be sacrificing their ability to get him two starts in the series. However, even if he plays in one of the Dodgers' home games later this week, Ohtani could come out of the bullpen in a potential Game 7; this is the sort of relief opportunity the team has been hinting at for weeks this season.
Since Ohtani will only make one start in the NLCS, Roberts said it's not that important that it happens before the off day.
“You’ve got two more guys that could potentially get regular rest,” Roberts said. “So [it’s about] How do you get your best pitchers to get the most innings in a potential seven-game series?”
Beyond pitching considerations, however, there's another reason why delaying Ohtani's next appearance could also make sense.
For the NLDS, Ohtani scored one of his 18 points with nine shutouts. He looked particularly out of sorts in Game 1, when he struck out four times and pitched and pitched in his first career playoff game.
Coming out of the series, Roberts stressed that Ohtani needed to “recalibrate” at the plate, noting that the team “can't win the World Series with the kind of play” from its biggest star.
And while Roberts insisted Sunday that Ohtani's offensive slump has “no impact” on the team's rotation, giving Ohtani two games early in the NLCS so he can focus solely on hitting certainly won't hurt his efforts to straighten out his swing.
“I expect different things from Shohei offensively this series,” Roberts said.
At least for the next couple of days, that would be his only goal.
