Pirates Paul Skenes Won't Face Shohei Ohtani in Pitching Battle

The Pittsburgh Pirates have done what many fans and analysts likely thought impossible, nabbing a series win against reigning World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. One face will be curiously missing for the end of the series, though, or at least from the pitcher's mound: Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani was originally scheduled to pitch during the teams' second matchup, but was scratched at the last minute and instead put in the lineup at designated hitter. In lieu of Ohtani, Emmet Sheehan pitched for Los Angeles. While some were hoping this meant Ohtani would pitch against Pirates phenom and 2024 Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes, who is slated to start in the series finale, that appears to not be the case (though Skenes will still face Ohtani from the batter's box).

Prior to the game, LA Times insider Jack Harris shared on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Ohtani from pitching because he had been feeling "under the weather." Ohtani's next pitching start is now slated for the Dodgers' next series, against the Baltimore Orioles.