Dodgers Make Decision on Shohei Ohtani, Dalton Rushing Pairing After Viral Incident

The Los Angeles Dodgers have decided who will catch Shohei Ohtani on Friday night against the San Diego Padres.

It will be the same person who's caught him the last three games.

Dalton Rushing will be behind the plate for the Dodgers on Friday, manager Dave Roberts told reporters ahead of Thursday's series opener.

After their last start together in which there were public disagreements in the second inning, Roberts was undecided about having Rushing catch Ohtani again.

Now, it's confirmed the battery mates will be back together.

In the second inning of last Wednesday's fateful game, Rushing and Ohtani got crossed up on one pitch that led to a run on a passed ball. Additionally, Ohtani wanted to challenge multiple calls, and Rushing didn't, leading to visual frustration on both sides.

After the inning, Rushing had conversations with multiple people in the Dodgers dugout, including Roberts. He took accountability for his actions after the game, and vowed to be better moving forward.

“Look, he’s the greatest player to play this game,” Rushing said to the California Post. “And he has every right to, one, call whatever he would like, and two, just attack the way that he wants to on the mound. Because no one on this earth can tell him that he doesn’t know what he’s doing out there.

“So we’re gonna move forward from it. I’ve talked to him a lot. Never in a million years could you ever have a bad thing to say about a guy like that. Never in a million years could you ever feel like a player like that is in the wrong. So it’s kind of up to me, as a young guy, to wear the situation, wear it on my chest, get over it, move past it, and make sure that we allow a guy like that to do what he wants to do.”

Rushing will get that opportunity on Friday, where all eyes will be on him. Rushing has had many instances this season in which he's let his emotions get the best of him. The Dodgers have been working with him to get better at controlling himself.

"It's a work in progress. He wants to do really well, expects a lot of himself, so when he's not doing what he expects, he gets frustrated," Roberts said recently. "I think that the good thing is that he understands his priority is to serve the pitchers and be behind the plate. But yeah, the last few games, he's had a tough go of it."

Ohtani began calling his own pitches from the third inning on last week. It remains to be seen if he does the same on Friday after he found much success following the change.

Ohtani had his start pushed back two days to get him some extra rest. The Dodgers are also hoping it gets him back on track after allowing 10 runs (nine earned) over his last three starts.

He had just five earned runs over his first 10 starts this season with Will Smith behind the plate. Smith won't be back until sometime after the All-Star break.

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