Shohei Ohtani Might Be Peaking Just in Time for Postseason

The Dodgers’ plan to slow play Shohei Ohtani, the pitcher, back to top form is working to perfection. Ohtani looked so good throwing six shutout innings against the Diamondbacks Tuesday night that he is a full-bore Game 1 option for manager Dave Roberts when the National League wild-card series begins Tuesday.

And when Ohtani does make his first career postseason start on the mound while taking his usual spot as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter, he will replace Babe Ruth as the starting pitcher to hit from the highest spot in the batting order in a postseason game. Ruth hit sixth for the Red Sox in Game 4 of the 1918 World Series.

Three other postseason starting pitchers have batted in a spot other than ninth, all in the eighth spot: Zack Greinke in the 2021 World Series for the Astros and Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel twice each in the ‘16 postseason for the Cubs.

In his 14th game on the mound since a second elbow procedure, Ohtani reached season highs against Arizona in innings (six), pitches (91) and batters faced (22). Most impressively, Ohtani pitched off his fastball, which was electric, and held his stuff deep into his start. Here are the key numbers:

Inside Ohtani’s Tuesday start vs. Diamondbacks

Roberts likely won’t announce his Game 1 starter until playoff matchups are set, but Ohtani has made 11 straight starts on at least six days of rest and if (and when) he starts NLWC Game 1 he will have … six days of rest.

The start Tuesday was the 100th pitching appearance for Ohtani in MLB. His 670 strikeouts through 100 games are the 11th most in history.

That’s impressive enough. But know this: that same all-time pitching talent also this year became the first player in history with 50 homers, 100 walks and 19 stolen bases in a season. Amazing.

And one more note about the incredible two-way talent of Ohtani:

The Two-Way Power of Shohei Ohtani in 2025

The Dodgers’ plan to slow-play not just Ohtani but also all their top starters appears to have worked well. Los Angeles pitchers have made only 19 starts this year on four days of rest or fewer, the fewest in MLB (Houston is next at 23) and the seventh fewest in any full season. Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are all throwing well, giving Roberts good choices about how he wants to line up his postseason rotation.

Now he must fix his bullpen, and Roki Sasaki may be the answer. Sasaki, who is expected to be activated Wednesday, hasn’t pitched in MLB since May 9 because of a right shoulder impingement. After making five rehab starts in the minors, Sasaki made his past two appearances out of the bullpen for Oklahoma City. Each time he threw one shutout inning. He hit 100 mph with his fastball.

Roberts is expected to give Sasaki two relief outings this week as further trials for a high-leverage postseason role, which could include anything up to closing games.