The Dodgers WILL Get Younger as Ohtani Pitches Less
The two things above have nothing to do with each other. However, we are all waiting with bated breath for Shohei Ohtani to take the mound. It may come in June or July… or it could come as late as August. I am convinced that his role will not be that of a conventional starter…
The two things above have nothing to do with each other. However, we are all waiting with bated breath for Shohei Ohtani to take the mound. It may come in June or July… or it could come as late as August. I am convinced that his role will not be that of a conventional starter when he returns. I could see him piggybacking with a LH pitcher such as Clayton Kershaw or filling a spot as a multi-inning high-leverage reliever, but I do not think you will ever see him pitch over 100 innings, and I also believe he may only pitch for 1-3 more years. There… that’s what I think about Ohtani and his career as a pitcher.
There are lots of reasons, but none more compelling than his value to the Dodgers’ offense. The more he has to pitch, the less valuable he becomes to the offense. Hitting is very hard. Pitching is very hard. But, pitching and hitting together are extremely hard. In my opinion, it is unsustainable for a player on a winning team to do that. He could do it on a team like the Angels, where it is a sideshow that draws fans, but winning is more important than personal accolades. The Dodgers already sell out. They do not need the “Ohtani Dog and Pony Show.”
The Dodgers need Ohtani to be their offensive MVP, and if he can pitch some meaningful innings, especially in relief… especially in the playoffs, then he is a huge asset to the Dodgers! If he could pitch just two or three “high-leverage” innings once every four or five days, he would be a “game changer.” You will be greatly disappointed if anyone expects Ohtani to be Babe Ruth and Cy Young, all in one Superhero Body.
Do not take it personally, but I think wanting Ohtani to hit anywhere but leadoff is silly. Some fans do not want him to hit leadoff… which is really, really silly. Every spot in the order gets about 20 fewer at-bats than the spot above where they hit. In other words, if Ohtani hits leadoff and gets 600 ABs a year, if he batted 2nd, he would get 580. In the #3 hole, he would get 560; at cleanup, he would get 540. Five out of four people struggle with math, but even Ray Charles can see that it is more desirable for Ohtani to hit at the top of the lineup. The higher up he hits, the more at-bats he gets. The more at-bats he gets, the more offense he produces.
Usually, we “oldtimers” are stuck in our ways: “Your best Power and RBI guy should hit cleanup!” Balderdash! Get your best hitters the most at-bats. That’s what wins games. I would not be opposed to having a batting order based on OPS. Now, it’s early in the season, but if the Dodgers had a batting order based upon OPS, this is what it would look like:
- Freeman 1B – 1.037
- T. Hernandez RF – .935
- Ohtani DH – .915
- Smith C – .912
- Pages CF- .865
- Edman 2B – .865
- Betts SS – .782
- Muncy 3B – .593
- Conforto LF – .565
What’s wrong with that? Let the players show where they want to hit. It would be fun, and no one could complain about Doc’s lineups!
Getting Younger
We have been talking about this for a while. The Dodgers need to get younger… and they know it. Not much will happen this year, but it will begin en masse next season. The players likely to be gone are as follows:
- Michael Conforto
- Austin Barnes
- Chris Taylor
- Miguel Rojas
All except Conforto could be coaches or in the Dodgers’ Front Office. This opens the door for Alex Freeland at SS and Dalton Rushing at C. Depending upon how he does this year, Max Muncy could be back at the hot corner in 2026, or the Dodgers could decline his option and elect to sign Munetaka Murakami, a power-hitting 3B from Japan who at age 25 has already accumulated 242 Career HRs, including 56 in 2022. What do you think of this lineup:
- Ohtani – DH (L)
- Betts 2B (R)
- Freeman 1B (L)
- Teoscar LF (R)
- Murakami 3B (L)
- Smith/Rushing C (L/R)
- Pages RF (R)
- Edman CF (L/R)
- Freeland SS (L/R)
There’s more on the horizon, but the Dodgers will start to get younger in 2026 and beyond.
X-CITES
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Discussion (61)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Squeeze with Rojas
It’s not about believing, it’s about knowing what I’m seeing, we’ve seen these types of frustrating games many times before, terrible batting, any pitcher, no matter how bad or mediocre he is, pitches like a damn ace against the Dodgers.
It’s true, May may have very good ERA or very good numbers, but for some reason he is still not convincing, he is not yet a reliable starting pitcher, but perhaps in the bullpen he can have the success he is supposed to have.