Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) returns to the dugout after scoring in the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 8. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Dodgers Haven't Made Decision on Shohei Ohtani's Role in Playoffs, Says Dave Roberts

Originally posted on Los Angeles Dodgers on SI
By J.P. Hoornstra | Last updated Sep 10, 2025 3:30 PM ET

Leave it to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to put an optimistic spin on his team's bullpen woes.

"This is our pennant race right now. It started early, and we’ve got to win every game," Roberts told reporters, including Sonja Chen of MLB.com. "It's about, for me, trusting the guys. And you [earn trust] by performing and going after guys, and not pitching too carefully. I'm gonna go with the guys that I trust. They're all talented in their own right, but yeah, you're gonna go with the guys you trust.

“This is a great audition opportunity for each of them."

Could a failed audition by a reliever become an opportunity for Shohei Ohtani to pitch in relief?

“I can’t answer that question right now,” Roberts told reporters last week in Baltimore. “But I think that we’re going to do whatever we feel is the best chance to give us a chance to win. And I know Shohei would be open to whatever. We certainly haven’t made that decision yet, though.”

Through Tuesday, Dodgers relievers have been taxed to the tune of 585.2 innings this season, the most in MLB. Their 4.20 ERA ranks 19th. Only seven teams have more blown saves.

Ohtani has certainly held his own as a starter, posting a 3.75 ERA in 12 starts, and walking only eight batters while striking out 49 in 36 innings. But the Dodgers likely won't need more than four starters in the postseason, pitting Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan in a game of musical chairs.

Roberts acknowledged there have been “thoughts about” whether Ohtani could factor into some kind of potential ninth-inning role. That scenario would invite some complicating factors.

In an ideal scenario, Ohtani would begin throwing in the bullpen after making an out in the seventh inning, then use the top and/or bottom of the eighth to stay loose.

The ideal scenario won't always play out, however. By saving him for the ninth inning, the Dodgers invite the possibility that Ohtani would have to run into the bullpen to hit, then run, then warm back up.

Then, if Ohtani can't finish a game, the Dodgers would lose the designated hitter for the remainder of the game.

Rule 5.11(b) — the "Ohtani rule" — states: "If that [two-way player] pitcher bats or runs as Designated Hitter, such move will not terminate the Designated Hitter role for that Club; neither will the role be terminated in the event that Designated Hitter assumes the role of pitcher on defense. However, if that player is switched from the mound or Designated Hitter role to a position on defense other than pitcher, such move will terminate the Designated Hitter role for that Club for the remainder of the game."

But as long as Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, the Dodgers' two high-priced free agent acquisitions last winter, continue to struggle, it's impossible to close the door on Ohtani relieving in October.