Ohtani (0.38 ERA) returns to mound Tuesday vs. Marlins -- but will he hit?

LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani is set for his return to the Dodger Stadium mound on Tuesday night, but will it be a full-on two-way show?

Ohtani will start against the Marlins on five days' rest, rather than his usual six or more, for the first time this season. Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged that pitching on less rest could "potentially" mean that Ohtani does not hit in the game.

As a pitcher, Ohtani has been dominant, going 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA in his first four starts. As a hitter, he's been off to a bit of a slow start -- by his standards, at least -- but he showed signs of heating up at the plate in the weekend series against the Cubs.

The Dodgers are in the final leg of a stretch of 13 games without an off-day. They could have moved Tyler Glasnow up to Tuesday because he is fine with pitching on regular rest, but given that Glasnow is coming off his longest outing in two years -- eight scoreless innings against the Giants -- the team wanted to give him five days to recover.

L.A. also typically likes to line up Ohtani's pitching starts the day before a team off-day to give him extra recovery time. So both before and after Ohtani starts on Tuesday, he'll have less rest than usual.

"Tyler pitched a lot. That’s the thing," Roberts said. "We don’t have to just be beholden to the off-day. We talked to Shohei. He feels good about going on Tuesday."

Two weeks ago, Ohtani was not in the starting lineup when he pitched against the Mets, opening a conversation around whether he should hit when he pitches. That game was a special circumstance, given that Ohtani had been hit by a pitch on the right shoulder two days earlier. The same could be said for Tuesday, especially since it will be a quick turnaround for Wednesday's series finale with first pitch at 12:10 p.m. PT.

The Dodgers are also taking the difficulty of balancing a two-way workload into consideration. This year, Ohtani has hit 1-for-10 (.100) with a .457 OPS in the three games in which he's hit and pitched. The downside of not having Ohtani in the lineup when he's pitching is that he cannot pinch-hit when he's out of the game as a pitcher, so L.A. has to be at peace with losing his bat for the contest.

The tough decision for the Dodgers ultimately boils down to the alternative options they have at designated hitter. Former top prospect Dalton Rushing has emerged as a good option, given that he's been off to a hot start (1.429 OPS in 12 games) and has limited opportunities at catcher behind Will Smith. Being able to slot him in at DH while giving Ohtani the opportunity to focus solely on pitching every now and then could work out nicely for all parties.

"I’ll always let the manager make that final decision, and I’m always going to be prepared that, when I’m starting, I’m hitting," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton after his last start. "But if it makes sense as a team to occasionally put a guy in as a DH or hit later, that’s fine as well."