{"id":676753,"date":"2026-04-16T05:48:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T05:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/676753\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T05:48:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T05:48:45","slug":"dodgers-dont-need-shohei-ohtanis-bat-just-his-arm-in-rout-of-mets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/676753\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers don’t need Shohei Ohtani’s bat, just his arm, in rout of Mets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani<\/a>\u2019s spotless ERA finally got its first mark Wednesday. But in the Dodgers\u2019 8-2 victory<\/a> on Wednesday, he held the Mets to just one run in six innings.<\/p>\n

Ohtani\u2019s streak of innings without giving up an earned run ended at 32 2\/3, the longest of his career. He had 10 strikeouts Wednesday, the most he\u2019s had in a regular-season start as a Dodger, and matching his effort in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Championship Series<\/a> against the Brewers.<\/p>\n

Ohtani faced just one over the minimum through the first four innings. Then in the fifth he issued two walks before facing Mets designated hitter MJ Melendez with one out and runners on first and second.<\/p>\n

Melendez sent a second-pitch splitter into the right-field corner, and the ball bounced over the fence for a run-scoring ground-rule double.<\/p>\n

Ohtani retired the next five batters he faced, striking out the side in the sixth.<\/p>\n

The two-way phenom only had one job to worry about Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"Shohei <\/p>\n

Shohei Ohtani pitches against the New York Mets.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

For the first time since 2021, he was not also in the lineup as a hitter while pitching. The decision didn\u2019t reflect a change in philosophy by the Dodgers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it weren\u2019t for the hit by pitch [Monday], he would\u2019ve been DHing and pitching tonight,\u201d manager Dave Roberts said before the game.<\/p>\n

Ohtani was hit in the back of his right shoulder by a 94-mph sinker on Monday. Though that didn\u2019t prevent him from serving as the designated hitter the first two games of the series, the Dodgers wanted to lighten the load Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust feeling what gives him the best chance to stay loose during the outing, feel good,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThere\u2019s still some soreness in there. When he\u2019s hitting, there\u2019s a component that he\u2019s in the cage getting ready to hit, and if we can take that off his plate and just focus on one thing tonight, we felt \u2014 training staff, pitching coaches, myself \u2014 we just felt it was the best thing for him. So, once I told him, he completely understood.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what Ohtani\u2019s initial reaction had been, Roberts widened his eyes in an impressively accurate impression of one of Ohtani\u2019s patented facial expressions.<\/p>\n

The next time Ohtani takes the mound, he is expected to also hit. But Roberts didn\u2019t rule out again having Ohtani just pitch if a similar situation arises again.<\/p>\n

\"Dalton <\/p>\n

Dalton Rushing rounds the bases after an eighth inning grand slam.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019m going to keep an eye on if it makes sense, but not just kind of do it proactively,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s \u2026 got to make sense to not have your best hitter not in the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

To account for Ohtani\u2019s absence in the batting order Wednesday, Kyle Tucker moved up from No. 2 to leadoff, and Dalton Rushing served as the DH.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers scored all eight runs via the long ball: a two-run shot from Hyeseong Kim, his first home run of the season, a solo blast from Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez, Rushing\u2019s first career grand slam, and a solo homer from Tucker.<\/p>\n

Dodgers closer Edwin D\u00edaz was available Wednesday, for the first time since last Friday. But the Dodgers\u2019 five-run eighth inning eliminated the save situation. Instead, right-hander Kyle Hurt made his first major-league appearance since 2024. He gave up a run and had three strikeouts.<\/p>\n

Jackie Robinson Day<\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 celebration of Jackie Robinson Day began with the annual reflection at the Jackie Robinson statue, with both teams in attendance. Speakers included Robinson\u2019s granddaughters Sonya Pankey Robinson and Ayo Robinson, Roberts, and Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make the rather bold assertion that Jackie\u2019s breaking of the color barrier wasn\u2019t just a part of the Civil Rights movement,\u201d Kendrick said in his speech, \u201cit was the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

He broke down the timeline: Robinson debuted with the Dodgers in 1947, years before the Supreme Court ruled on Brown vs. the Board of Education (1954) or Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala. (1955). The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was still a student at Morehouse College.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t believe that one individual can indeed invoke change, you have to look no further than right here,\u201d Kendrick said, pointing to the statue of Robinson. \u201cBecause what he did was incredibly difficult, under some of the most harsh circumstances you could ever imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani\u2019s spotless ERA finally got its first mark Wednesday. But in the Dodgers\u2019 8-2 victory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[85750,5,6977,39,15,14,3816,1165,4332,4333,1994,774,57,3224,4331,101,4,3247,7879,10959,1602,468,6979,1372],"class_list":{"0":"post-676753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-94-mph-sinker","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-dh","11":"tag-dodgers","12":"tag-eye","13":"tag-game","14":"tag-hitter","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-la-dodgers","17":"tag-ladodgers","18":"tag-lineup","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","21":"tag-losangeles","22":"tag-losangelesdodgers","23":"tag-mets","24":"tag-mlb","25":"tag-monday","26":"tag-pitch","27":"tag-right-shoulder","28":"tag-roberts","29":"tag-shohei-ohtani","30":"tag-tonight","31":"tag-wednesday"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116412818976781438","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}