Dave Roberts stands firm with Shohei Ohtani decision despite slump-busting home run

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani finally busted out of his slump on Tuesday night, hitting a home run for the first time since April 26. The Dodgers tried a few quick fixes, including Ohtani taking live stadium batting practice for the first time all season. Now, Dave Roberts is standing firm on his most radical solution yet — Ohtani will receive some much-needed time off.

Ohtani is slated to pitch for the Dodgers on Wednesday against the rival San Francisco Giants, thus he will not hit in the lineup. On top of that, Roberts is insistent on getting Ohtani a regular off day Thursday, so he will miss consecutive days in the lineup for the first time in his Dodgers tenure.

Dave Roberts isn't backing down from his Shohei Ohtani solution

Roberts is right to treat his superstar with the care he deserves. Since Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, there have been few moments of weakness, with his Tommy John surgery an obvious exception. That's why, despite a home run hit into the Dodger Stadium sky on Tuesday and a four-game losing streak to boot, Roberts isn't backing down.

“I thought tonight was a really good night,” Roberts said, per The Athletic ($). “Now to go out there, focus on pitching tomorrow, get that recovery on Thursday, I think that he can hopefully take that momentum from tonight and then be building on that.”

Since April 13, Ohtani is hitting just a shade over the Mendoza line, and his OPS fell to .767 on the season. While some MLB hitters would take that, Ohtani's career OPS of .950 shows just how far he's fallen in a couple of weeks. That's why, even when Roberts doubted himself and nearly backtracked to allow Shohei to hit on Wednesday, he opted against it.

“We were both good with it,” Roberts said postgame. “I don’t like the bait and switch. I think that might’ve been something where, you know you get a couple days off of hitting and it might have freed him up. You just never know. To go back on a pact, a decision that we came upon or I came upon, I don’t like that.”

What's wrong with Shohei Ohtani at the plate?

To understand why rest is the best possible solution for Ohtani's slump, one need not look any further than the probable cause. His mechanics are way off on his swing, and the Dodgers are quick to chalk that up to fatigue. This is easily the worst slump of Ohtani's career, which is itself a compliment. Most players go through a 10-to-12-game nightmare a few times per season. It happens to him once, and Dodgers fans are in shambles.

As a two-way MLB superstar, Ohtani has double the duty, and double the responsibilities. Pitching every fifth (or even 6-10) day is exhausting for a starting pitcher over the course of 162 games, much like taking 600-plus at-bats over a calendar baseball season is for a hitter.

Ohtani does both, and that's exactly how we got here. Some rest was a long time coming.

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