Dodgers’ plan for Shohei Ohtani in Wild Card Series is revealed

With Shohei Ohtani set to pitch in the playoffs for the first time in his MLB career, the Los Angeles Dodgers are planning things out meticulously.

The Dodgers plan to save Ohtani for Game 3 (if necessary) of their NL Wild Card Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports reported on Monday. Blake Snell will be getting the nod for the Dodgers in Game 1 while Yoshinobu Yamamoto draws the start in Game 2. Meanwhile, Cincinnati’s slate of starting pitchers is set to be Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Andrew Abbott.

Nightengale adds that, if the Dodgers sweep the best-of-three series against the Reds, Ohtani will start in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ohtani, 31, debuted on the mound for the Dodgers in mid-June and posted a 2.87 ERA with a 1.04 WHIP and 62 strikeouts over 14 starts (spanning 47.0 total innings pitched). The Dodgers slowly ramped him up over the course of the last three months, and he made it to six innings pitched during his last start of the regular season on Sept. 23.

Game 3 of the NL Wild Card series is scheduled to potentially take place on Oct. 2. That would give Ohtani eight full days of rest in between starts.

It is possible too that Ohtani’s pitching role for the Dodgers could change over the course of the 2025 postseason. Earlier this month, we heard that Ohtani would be willing to make a major change in order to benefit the team during their playoff run.