Dodgers' Dave Roberts Makes Telling Admission About Shohei Ohtani

The skipper spoke on Ohtani the hitter's success being affected by Ohtani the pitcher.

Oct 28, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) pulls Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) from pitching during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during game four of the 2025 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Los Angeles Dodgers are at the top of the baseball world with a 65-38 record and nearing the start of another postseason where the goal is championship or bust.

Though the Dodgers are yet to make a drastic move ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline, there are still quite a few decisions the team has made to put potential success in October over regular season glory.

Perhaps the biggest move was shutting down superstar Shohei Ohtani from pitching duties for the time being despite having a 1.79 ERA through 14 starts — and being healthy enough to throw over 30 pitches in a bullpen session on Wednesday.

Ohtani's knee discomfort was first reported after he left a mid-June contest early due to knee inflammation. Since then, he was scratched from what would have been his final start before the All-Star game, announced he would miss All-Star Game festivities entirely to undergo treatment and is currently out of the rotation for the immediate future.

Manager Dave Roberts recently spoke on the weight that Ohtani's brilliance as a hitter carried in the team's decision to shut down Ohtani's potential Cy Young campaign.

“It’s heavily weighted,” Roberts said. “That’s why we feel that, whether it’s one week, two weeks, three weeks — pushing him back — as long as he’s taking his five at-bats, given our lineup and what he brings to our offense every day, it’s a big deal. That’s certainly weighted, yeah.”

The skipper doubled down when asked if Ohtani's value as a hitter is greater than his pitching success this season.

“Yeah, I think so,” Roberts said. “Certainly if you look at our roster and the depth that we have with the pitching — yeah I would say that.”

Ohtani is hitting .283/.392/.525 with an OPS of .917 this season. He has slugged 22 home runs and brought in 60 RBIs thus far and is looking like the favorite to win a fifth MVP honor, and fourth in a row.

Since Ohtani's knee caused him to miss just one game in the lineup on June 12, he has been hitting .239 with nine home runs and an OPS of .816.

His pitching is by no means being disregarded for the postseason push, but Roberts knows as well as anyone the boost in starting pitching his team will soon receive.

All-Star right-hander Tyler Glasnow is finally making progress on his long-awaited return to the mound and two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell has a timeline to return by mid-to-late-August.

Thus, the need for a starting pitcher is far below the impact Ohtani has at the top of the lineup every day.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X/Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.