Dodgers rumors: LA’s ‘perfect world’ pitching plan for Shohei Ohtani

The Los Angeles Dodgers have gotten off to a strong start to the 2026 MLB regular season, currently sitting at 4-1 after Tuesday night’s comfortable home win over the Cleveland Guardians. This game marked the 2026 pitching debut of superstar Shohei Ohtani, who performed well on the mound, lasting six innings and giving up just one hit, recording three strikeouts.

Now, more information is coming to light on what the Dodgers’ plan is regarding Ohtani as a pitcher for the rest of the season.

“Citing a desire to keep him healthy throughout the season, the Dodgers are taking a conservative approach with Ohtani to start the season. He’ll be used as a traditional starter, but he won’t be on traditional rest, and he likely won’t make 30-plus starts this year,” reported Katie Woo of The Athletic.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently spoke about how the team might end up playing things by ear as the season continues.

“I’m going start by start,” Roberts said. “It’s just not an exact science, as much as people want to think it might be, and some people probably do. Innings aren’t all created equal. All throws aren’t created equal. We talked to him a lot on how he’s feeling, and if there’s days that we got to kind of give him a couple extra days, we’re willing to do that.”

The Dodgers are hoping to have better luck in the injury department this year than they did in 2025, when numerous starting pitchers were forced to miss extensive time due to various ailments.

However, if Los Angeles is able to space out Ohtani’s starts as Woo described, that would go a long way in keeping the best player in baseball healthy for the stretch run of the season.

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