Shohei Ohtani’s return to the mound could soon give the Dodgers something every contender wants and almost nobody gets: a bullpen that looks more like a second rotation.
Dave Roberts dropped the biggest clue on Saturday, when he pointed to Ohtani’s 30-pitch live session against Will Smith as potentially the final hurdle before the two-way star returns to pitching for Los Angeles. The Dodgers still do not have a starter lined up for their August 30 finale against the Detroit Tigers, which opens the door for Ohtani to take the ball ahead of Eric Lauer as the club begins building him back up.
The Dodgers have already walked this road with Ohtani once. Last year, he opened with a one-inning outing in mid-June and reached six innings only once, in his final regular-season start.
That ramp-up had to be slower because he was working back from multiple surgeries. This time, the team believes he can be ready to start in the postseason with far less buildup.
And if that happens, the Dodgers’ October picture gets even more intimidating. A rotation built around Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, and Tarik Skubal is as strong as it gets. Roki Sasaki was already viewed as a likely bullpen candidate, and Tyler Glasnow, who is scheduled to return on Tuesday, now looks headed for the same path.
That would go a long way toward fixing the Dodgers’ recent relief issues, and it would do it in a hurry.
Eric Lauer has already been moved to the bullpen, while Justin Wrobleski is expected to shift into a relief role when he comes off the IL. Gavin Stone, a former top prospect, is also on a rehab assignment in Triple-A and could enter the mix late in the season and in the postseason. Put Glasnow, Sasaki, Lauer, Wrobleski, and Stone together, and the Dodgers could end up with a bullpen built mostly from starting pitchers.
If that scenario comes together, even Edwin Díaz may not be a lock for the postseason roster once he returns from his IL stint. Sasaki is not guaranteed to immediately return to the dominant postseason closer role he once seemed to own, but right now he still looks like the safer bet than Díaz.
Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia, and Jack Dreyer could still fill out the rest of the bullpen picture, though they might not be asked to do much if the Dodgers have those other arms available.
The timing is lining up, too. After stumbling to a 5-10 start to the month, the Dodgers have now won six straight, and the key pieces are starting to come back in sync. If the offense keeps rolling, it remains very hard to picture this team missing a return trip to the World Series.
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The bigger question now is how quickly Shohei Ohtani gets folded into that plan. He could start Sunday against the Tigers, but the Dodgers have not finalized anything yet, and the options still include a one-inning outing or another bullpen session before he takes a full turn. Dave Roberts said Ohtani feels ready to pitch soon, which keeps the door open on a return that has felt close for a while, even if the exact timing is still being sorted out. [Read more 🡒]