LOS ANGELES -- On the other side of the bye week, the Dodgers are confident that Shohei Ohtani will be back to being an impact bat at the top of their lineup.
- NLDS Game 1, presented by Booking.com: Saturday on FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One. NOTE: If MIL faces CHC, the LAD game will start at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. If MIL faces SD, the LAD game will start at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.
When Ohtani was activated last week following a minimum-length 15-day injured list stint due to lingering right biceps and left knee issues, the Dodgers' main priority was that their superstar came out of the final five games of the regular season feeling healthy.
Ohtani checked that box, and with five days off in between Game 162 and the start of the NL Division Series on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers believe he will feel even better once the postseason run begins.
“Everything is feeling great physically," general manager Brandon Gomes said on a Zoom call with the media on Tuesday. "The swings, once he came back, overall were in a good place. And using these five days to continue to get reps and feeling good into this series is really important. But feels like he's in a great spot.”
Ohtani hit 5-for-21 (.238) with one extra-base hit, eight strikeouts and one walk in his five games back from the IL. His results were a mixed bag in that small sample, but manager Dave Roberts felt that he generally saw better at-bat quality from him.
This week, Roberts would like to see Ohtani take five to seven live at-bats, as well as hit off the Trajekt machine, which simulates facing real pitchers. With additional time to rest and to work on his swing in a more controlled environment, the Dodgers are hopeful that Ohtani will be able to hit the ground running on Saturday.
"I feel confident that you're going to see the best version of Shohei of the last two months," Roberts said in Tuesday's Zoom call with the media. "I know that's sort of a low bar given his injury, but I do think that he's as healthy as he's been in quite some time. And every day from the training staff, it keeps getting better. So yeah, No. 1, he'll be a threat being in the lineup, but I do think that the performance piece will be what we're hoping for."
Ohtani hit .198 and struck out 34 times in 109 plate appearances in the 24 games before he went on the IL, a period of time that coincided with an attempt to ramp back up as a pitcher. Before then, he had been squarely in the mix to win another MVP Award. Ohtani's injuries and slump essentially took him out of the running, but he still finished the season hitting .275 with an .889 OPS and a team-leading 30 homers.
Roberts is a believer that a healthier Ohtani will be a more productive Ohtani, even if he may not be able to reach the same heights he did earlier in the season.
"I think for me, it's just the health," Roberts said. "I think that he did everything he could to manage it, all the while being somewhat compromised. And I think that he's going to be as healthy and feel as good as he's felt."