Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke about whether Shohei Ohtani’s pitching or hitting is more valuable.
Ohtani’s usage has been a big talking point over the past few months as soreness in his left knee has become an issue.
For the majority of the year, Ohtani has pitched and hit, making a weekly appearance anywhere between 85-100 pitches, alongside five plate appearances per game.
As the All-Star break approached, Ohtani’s left knee started to get sore and experience inflammation.
He lands on his left leg after every pitch, and the Japanese star has stated that it is his time on the mound that is driving the knee problem.
Naturally, to avoid any additional problems, the Dodgers decided to have Ohtani miss his last scheduled start, not travel to the All-Star Game, and receive a pain-relief injection.
While Roberts expected Ohtani to pitch during the starting rotation’s first go-around, he did not pitch against the Phillies on Wednesday, and the team shut him down indefinitely from pitching.
Ohtani the pitcher vs. Ohtani the hitter
With the Dodgers making the call to prioritize his bat over his pitching, Roberts was asked whether the organization valued his hitting more than his pitching on this current team.
“Yeah, I think so,” Roberts said, per Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register. “Certainly if you look at our roster and the depth that we have with the pitching – yeah I would say that.”
“It’s heavily weighted. That’s why we feel that, whether it’s one week, two weeks, three weeks – pushing him back – as long as he’s taking his five at-bats, given our lineup and what he brings to our offense every day, it’s a big deal. That’s certainly weighted, yeah.”
Ohtani is hitting .207/.258/.379 over the last seven games. Over this last 15 games, things are only slightly better at .241/.313/.483.
Roberts, though, does not believe it is the knee affecting this swing.
“I get the question. I don’t think that’s the case,” Roberts said.
“I would argue that if it was the right knee, potentially, because that’s kind of – you’re turning on that knee, hitting off the front side. But with the left knee, I still see the intent there.
