LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers pushed Shohei Ohtani's next pitching start back to Friday night, when he'll carry out his full two-way duties against the Padres at Dodger Stadium. He was originally scheduled to make his next start in Wednesday's series finale against the A's at Sutter Health Park.
Ohtani has gone 8-2 with a 1.58 ERA through 13 starts. He has generally pitched on a weekly schedule, getting six days off in between starts, but the Dodgers have been open about the possibility of seeking opportunities to give him even more rest as needed.
With the Dodgers in the middle of a stretch of 13 straight games without an off-day, the team decided that now is the time. Ohtani will get a season-high eight days of rest in between his previous start last Wednesday and his upcoming start on Friday.
Another factor was that Ohtani will still be able to make two starts before the All-Star break, and because he was pushed back to the Padres series, both will come against divisional opponents. His final start of the first half should be lined up for July 10 against the D-backs at Dodger Stadium.
"I think it’s mostly schedule-driven," manager Dave Roberts said. "We talked to Shohei, and he agreed to whatever we felt, knowing it’s best for him. So again, upside, downside -- there’s no downside with him losing starts. Get more rest. No downside was the thought. That was the whole driver."
Ohtani has not missed a pitching start this season, even while dealing with some lingering soreness in his left knee and a blister on his right hand. Ohtani said that something with his pitching mechanics may have aggravated his knee back when he injured it in early June.
“I don’t think he’s 100% with his knee," Roberts said. "But as far as his swing mechanics, where he’s at, he’s on balance, he’s 100% in the box.”
In his last three starts -- two of which came after the knee issue flared up -- Ohtani has allowed 11 runs (nine earned) in 18 2/3 innings. In his first 10 starts of the season, Ohtani had held opponents to seven runs (five earned) in 61 innings.
The recent lapse in performance was not a factor in the Dodgers' decision to give Ohtani extra rest.
"It’s just an overall workload thought," Roberts said.
Dalton Rushing will again catch Ohtani after the battery dealt with some friction in their previous outing in Minnesota. Ohtani disagreed with some of Rushing's game-calling decisions and closed out the appearance by calling his own pitches. Ohtani also made -- and won -- his only ABS challenge as a pitcher after Rushing looked to object to challenging the pitch in question.
Since Will Smith was sidelined by neck inflammation nearly a month ago, Rushing has served as the Dodgers' primary catcher. His previous experience with Ohtani was his most notable growing pain to date, and Roberts expects the young backstop to show some improvement on Friday.
"Dalton understands that this is what he signed up for, and the job of a catcher is to be a servant to the pitcher," Roberts said. "That's the bottom line. So it's Dalton's job to get on the page with whatever pitcher, right? And so I expect that all to be resolved."