How Dave Roberts plans to use Shohei Ohtani in the All-Star Game

DENVER — Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts not only has the luxury of managing Shohei Ohtani throughout the season, but also will have the two-way superstar at his disposal as the National League Manager during the upcoming MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta.

However, while Roberts could deploy Ohtani on the mound and at the plate in order to help the NL in the Midsummer Classic, he made very clear on Tuesday night that Ohtani will not pitch in the All-Star Game.

"No," Roberts said with a smile when asked about if he planned to use Ohtani on the mound against the American League.

That decision should not come as too big of a surprise to Dodgers or baseball fans. Entering Tuesday, Ohtani has thrown just 2.0 innings in two games this season after returning to the mound following Tommy John surgery. 

With the Dodgers already battling a rash of pitching injuries, it's clear that Roberts is going to do everything he can to protect the reigning NL Most Valuable Player.

However, Roberts did leave the possibility open that Ohtani make his third pitching appearance of the season on Saturday in Kansas City, saying he was leaving the decision to potentially deploy him against the Royals as "open-ended."

While Ohtani will not pitch in the All-Star Game, Roberts said on Tuesday that he planned to have him as the NL designated hitter and have him batting lead-off.

"The fans love him," Roberts said. "He's the best player and it's going to be exciting for the fans to watch him in Atlanta at the All-Star Game."

In the second All-Star voting update provided on Monday by MLB, Ohtani had gathered more than 2.5M votes, easily outdistancing second-place Rafael Devers of the San Francisco Giants (1.1M).

He entered Tuesday's series opener in Colorado coming off an outing on Sunday in Los Angeles where he struck out two and had five RBI, becoming the first MLB player to notch those kind of numbers since Washington's Stephen Strasburg on July 18, 2019.

Ohtani leads MLB with 76 runs scored and ranks first in the NL with a .624 slugging percentage, 26 home runs, 191 total bases and 44 extra-base hits.