Dave Roberts' comments prove Dodgers' handling of Shohei Ohtani injury makes no sense

Shohei Ohtani's timeframe to return to the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers is anyone's guess. A situation that involves a balky left knee was made worse when it was revealed that he's also dealing with a right biceps issue.

Being cautious with the unicorn is prudent. That's what Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts tried to convey when explaining Ohtani's absence from the lineup during the July 30 series finale against the Seattle Mariners.

The move was a precaution, Roberts said, adding, "Just so it doesn't turn into something that it shouldn't that we can prevent." The skipper would then go on to praise Ohtani for his communication, though he acknowledged the superstar's status is still something of a fluid issue, despite only being expected to sit for one game.

"That's a hard question, and I understand the thought behind it," Roberts said when asked about shutting down Ohtani with an IL stint. "But it's gotten better over the last few weeks markedly. He's been a very productive player. To essentially take it out of his hands, shut him down, the player -- you trust him. He feels like he can go. He's not 100%. Very few players are 100%. Then what is it? Is it 70%? Is it 80%, Is it 90%? For me, there's still that conversation where it's like he understands what's the most important part of the season is to come, and he understands his value with our team."

Ohtani last pitched on July 3, but as a hitter, he's pretty much been a fixture in the lineup. If we're talking about Ohtani being possibly only 70% healthy, as Roberts indicated, and in his words, the most important part of the season is to come, one has to wonder why he's been playing all this time and what one random day off truly solves.

Shohei Ohtani — the hitter — is a cog the Dodgers can't afford to lose during crunch time

Ohtani has been dominant on the mound with a 1.79 ERA over his 14 starts, but pitching through his career has very much been his side gig. Only once has he topped 132 innings or made more than 23 starts in a single season, both of which came in 2022 when he finished fourth in the American League Cy Young voting as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.

While his work on the mound has helped, Ohtani is a four-time MVP largely because of his bat, and his hitting prowess is the most irreplaceable thing he provides to the Dodgers.

Los Angeles is getting back Blake Snell soon, and Tyler Glasnow hopefully shouldn't be too far behind. If the club is concerned that isn't enough juice for the starting rotation, they can go out and trade for Tarik Skubal, who Jeff Passan says they are the favorites to acquire, or Hunter Greene, or any number of other high-end starters expected to be available by the August 3 deadline.

However, a bat of Ohtani's caliber doesn't exist on the trade block. There are no more than three hitters, Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez, and maybe Juan Soto, who exist in the same stratosphere as Ohtani.

So while talking about precautions is nice, that's not how the Dodgers have acted. If they were truly taking the appropriate precautions, they would have taken the All-Star break and given Ohtani a few days off before and after to let him rest and heal up.

Roberts is right that the dog days are here and the critical stretch run is coming, but if he and the rest of the organization were really concerned about having the most irreplaceable superstar in the game available for the challenges to come, one would think they would have been more cautious when they had a natural break to help them out. Now, we'll have to hope that their lack of foresight doesn't ultimately cost them big.

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