MILWAUKEE -- The Dodgers have set their rotation for when the NL Championship Series shifts back to Dodger Stadium. Tyler Glasnow will start Game 3 on Thursday, followed by Shohei Ohtani in Game 4 on Friday, manager Dave Roberts said.
The reasoning behind aligning the rotation as such is that it would allow Glasnow to start a potential Game 7 on four days' rest. Glasnow and Blake Snell (Games 1, 5) are the only members of the postseason rotation who have started on regular rest this season, while Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Games 2, 6) have gotten at least five days' rest before each of their starts.
Roberts also added that Ohtani could be available in relief in the final game of the NLCS if the series were to go the distance.
"Potentially lines [Ohtani] up if we need a Game 7 out of the 'pen," Roberts said before Game 2 at American Family Field on Tuesday, which the Dodgers won, 5-1, to take a 2-0 series advantage. "Game 3, we feel that Tyler is on regular rest, so it kind of lines him up as well. So just kind of all these things just made sense."
The Dodgers have some unique considerations when lining up their four-man postseason rotation because of the rest that both Yamamoto and Ohtani are accustomed to. While Ohtani could have been lined up to start Game 1 or 2 of the NLCS, it might have forced the Dodgers to use a bullpen game or a spot starter at some point during the series in order to avoid pitching him on five days of rest or fewer.
L.A. was confident that it would find a way to line up its rotation so that only four starters would be necessary to cover the best-of-seven series. Ultimately, the Dodgers decided that Ohtani making only one start on the mound during the NLCS was the means to their ideal rotation alignment.
While the idea of Ohtani pitching in relief has been discussed, Roberts said it wasn't really on his radar during the first two rounds of the postseason. Ohtani has never pitched in relief in the Majors, although he notably closed out Samurai Japan's title game over Team U.S.A. in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
It seems unlikely that the Dodgers will use Ohtani out of the bullpen unless their season is on the line. If the NLCS ends up going a full seven games, then that could force their hand.