LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers having Shohei Ohtani back as a full-time pitcher and hitter might have come with some unexpected side effects.
While Ohtani has gotten off to a spectacular start to the season on the mound with a 0.38 ERA in 24 innings, he has struggled mightily at the plate.
In his last 11 games, Ohtani is hitting .171 with a .505 OPS and 13 strikeouts. He went 1 for 13 this week in a series against the San Francisco Giants and went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts and a walk against the Chicago Cubs on Friday night.
“You don’t hear the word slump correlated with Shohei on the hitting side ever, so it is certainly unique,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Last year, there was a slow buildup where he was more focused on the hitting because there wasn’t much demand on the pitching side. That’s to be understood that there’s some kind of cut into production given how much he is pitching.”
Ohtani isn’t the kind of player to slam his bat against the ground or lash out about his performance, but Roberts notices when Ohtani is frustrated.
“You can tell with some of the facial expressions that he makes,” Roberts said. “He has high expectations for himself and his performance, and it’s certainly not up to his standard.”
Ohtani has had excellent seasons as a full-time pitcher and hitter when he played for the Angels. He hit 44 home runs with a 1.066 OPS in while posting a 3.14 ERA in 23 starts in 2023 en route to his second American League MVP.
Roberts has faith in Ohtani to get back to his MVP form at the plate, and he has earned some leeway to figure things out.
“He’s a very smart player,” Roberts said. “He certainly deserves more leash and more opportunity than essentially anyone.”
FLAG RESCUE
Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of Rick Monday famously saving the American flag from being burned by protestors during a game at Dodger Stadium.
Monday was playing center field for the Chicago Cubs on April 25, 1976, against the Dodgers. In the fourth inning, two protesters came on the field, spread the flag on the left-center field grass and doused it with lighter fluid, attempting to set it ablaze. Monday, a Marine Corps reservist, ran over, snatched the flag with his right hand, sprinted away and handed it to Dodgers pitcher Doug Rau in the dugout. The crowd responded with a standing ovation.
“It’s a great moment in American history and baseball history,” Roberts said. “What Rick did in that moment was courageous. We have a lot to be grateful for, and I do think people take that for granted. The American flag is really important to Americans. So I’m glad 50 years later we can be here to recognize that.”
Monday, who has been a broadcaster for the Dodgers since 1993, still has that flag and it will be on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, from Memorial Day to Labor Day this year.
The Dodgers recognized Monday prior to the game on Saturday. Monday and his wife, Barbaralee, displayed the flag to a standing ovation and members of the United States Marine Corps presented Monday with a bronze sculpture of him running with the flag.
“I had no idea they were going to be here or present me with an honor. Very humbled,” Monday said later on the radio broadcast of the game.
Monday has preserved the flag and is loaning it to the museum for the summer-long exhibit.
“What’s very nice is that flag they were trying to desecrate still has a life,” Monday said.
RAMPING UP
Brock Stewart pitched in the fourth game of his rehab assignment on Friday for Triple-A Oklahoma City. He allowed two hits, one walk and struck out two in a scoreless inning. Stewart threw 15 pitches with 10 of them being strikes.
The next step in Stewart’s progression is to pitch on back-to-back days, which Roberts said will happen next week.
“Brock has to go back-to-back,” Roberts said. “We’re probably looking at a couple of days down and then do it back-to-back at the end of next week. At that point in time, it will be a real conversation.”
UP NEXT
Cubs (LHP Shota Imanaga, 2-1, 2.17 ERA) at Dodgers (LHP Justin Wrobleski, 3-0, 1.88 ERA), Sunday, 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM
