The Dodgers waited until late Wednesday night to put Shohei Ohtani on the 15-day IL, and by then the damage to the optics was already done. He had been out of the lineup for five of the club’s previous six games, then went 0-for-3 in the one game he did play.
What started with knee trouble that knocked him off the mound has grown into something more complicated, with a biceps issue now layered on top. That made it increasingly hard for Dodgers fans to buy the idea that his problems at the plate were just mental, no matter what the front office had been saying.
Manager Dave Roberts didn’t exactly hide the frustration when he spoke about the timing. “If we look right now, here today, I would love to go back and put him on the IL.”
At the same time, Roberts pointed to a communication failure that has hovered over this entire stretch. He said Ohtani told the team on Monday that he wasn’t at 100%, but did not reveal “additional discomfort” to Roberts or anyone else until Tuesday night.
That’s where the Dodgers have found themselves in a messy middle ground: trying to manage a superstar who has to be part of the conversation, while also relying on that same superstar to decide whether he’s healthy enough to pitch or, in this case, hit. The problem is that the organization may have been too willing to let Ohtani drive the process.
General manager Brandon Gomes and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman had both been firm in their stance. Friedman said in July that the team expected Ohtani to pitch again this season, and Gomes said Monday that his offensive issues were not health-related before Ohtani effectively undercut that view.
That leaves a basic question hanging over the whole situation: if nobody inside the Dodgers really knew who was making the final call, how did it get this far? Roberts has said Ohtani would never want to sit out if he believed he could play, but that still doesn’t relieve the manager and the team of the responsibility to protect the player.
“We did emphasize communication,” Roberts insisted on Wednesday. “That's right. We did.”
The Dodgers are still learning how to handle this version of Ohtani, their first season dealing with him as a two-way player. But this episode has made one thing clear: if they need to take control next time, they can’t afford to hesitate.
In Other News...
Dodgers Face A Massive Tarik Skubal Decision They Can't Ignore
Tarik Skubal is already forcing the Dodgers to think beyond the stretch run, because his arrival at the deadline brought instant impact and an even bigger question about what comes next. ESPNs Jeff Passan has projected that a pitcher his age could approach a free-agent deal worth nearly $500 million, a figure that would reset expectations for anyone on the mound and put the Dodgers in a familiar but uncomfortable position: decide whether elite production is worth historic money.
For a team that has never shied from big swings, this is still a different kind of gamble. Committing that kind of contract to a pitcher in his 30s would carry obvious risk, especially for a club that has to keep one eye on its long-term financial flexibility, but letting a front-line arm walk after paying the deadline price would sting in its own way. The Dodgers do not have to answer it today, but the closer Skubal gets to free agency, the harder it gets to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Are Finally Turning To A Top Prospect For Answers
The Dodgers are giving Josue de Paula a fast track to the majors, promoting the outfielder from Double-A ahead of their series against the Marlins. It is the kind of move that says plenty about where a team stands in the season, and about how much confidence it has in a young player who has forced the issue with strong offensive production in the minors this year.
De Paula arrives with the reputation of a highly ranked prospect and the kind of upside the Dodgers have long been willing to bet on. He is expected to fit into the outfield mix and could also see time at designated hitter, giving Los Angeles another look at a bat it believes may be ready for a bigger stage. The only real question now is how quickly the transition comes together once he gets his first extended run. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Lineup Finally Exploded As Momentum Keeps Building
The Dodgers have been waiting for their offense to look this complete, and it finally happened in a rout that finished off a three-game set against the Reds. Los Angeles kept stacking productive at-bats, with Mookie Betts, Kik Hernndez, Teoscar Hernndez and Kyle Tucker all helping drive the attack as the lineup broke loose in a way that matched the clubs recent run of success.
The bigger picture keeps getting better for a team that has now won seven straight, but the tone of this one was set early by Yoshinobu Yamamoto controlling the game on the mound. He worked seven innings with 10 strikeouts and kept Cincinnati from ever finding much traction, a performance that also pushed him to a new career-high in wins with 13 as the Dodgers continued to build momentum on both sides of the ball. [Read more 🡒]