Latest Shohei Ohtani pitching rumors hint at complete Dodgers communication breakdown

On Wednesday, a day after Bobby Miller's blowup against the Marlins, the Dodgers finally made the right call and sent him down. This was necessary, given his 8.52 ERA and his failure to perform even against the worst team in the National League, but it also made LA's pitching options even thinner than they already were.

Right now, the postseason rotation is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, and Landon Knack, and only half of that rotation is reliable. Even if the Dodgers' hadn't sent him down, Miller had taken himself out of that picture completely with his outing against Miami, but his demotion does highlight how much the Dodgers are between a rock and a hard place right now.

They've already gone back and forth about whether or not Shohei Ohtani will make his return to the mound during the postseason, about a year out from a second elbow surgery. Through most of the season, Dave Roberts held firm on it not happening, but he wavered recently and said that the door was open.

That seemed to be news to Ohtani, who said on Tuesday night that he hadn't been involved in conversations about him pitching in the postseason. A meeting is set when the Dodgers return to LA, but it's abundantly clear that the Dodgers are scrambling and are just throwing things at a wall if they can't even seem to loop in the pitcher in question into their conversations about the pitching staff.

Despite a door being open for him to pitch in the postseason, Ohtani and the Dodgers have had no conversations about it

Roberts hasn't said whether Ohtani's return would be in a starting or relief capacity, but with the bullpen still looking just fine while the rotation withers, starting him (or at least putting him in for long relief) seems like the only way they'd be able to justify accelerating Ohtani through his rehab.

The Dodgers also recently flip-flopped on Tony Gonsolin, who's been rehabbing in Triple-A since Sept. 10. Gonsolin's early return hinted at some additional pitching help, but then Roberts snapped that door shut. Along with the Ohtani news on Tuesday, Roberts said that it actually was open, but Gonsolin was still a "longer shot" to be included in the postseason.

None of these conversations should be necessary at all, but the Dodgers have really gotten themselves into this mess. They shouldn't need to push two of their pitchers coming off of major surgery to perform before they're truly ready, but they may not be able to afford otherwise right now.