Something’s not right.
The Dodgers said so without saying so.
When Shohei Ohtani returned from the 15-day injured list, they batted him second.
This is no knock on Mookie Betts, who led off instead. Betts is an eight-time All-Star who is hitting .317 over his last 42 games, but Ohtani is, well, Ohtani.
Ohtani is the best player in baseball when healthy, or even close to healthy. If the Dodgers believed Ohtani could be that player for them in the postseason, they wouldn’t have moved him out of his customary spot in the order, and it wouldn’t have mattered how anyone else on their team was hitting or whether the opposing pitcher was right- and left-handed.
Presumably, the Dodgers had more insights into his injured right arm and left knee than they shared.
Which is why enthusiasm over Ohtani’s performance on Wednesday should be tempered.
Without question, Ohtani looked better in the 5-1 loss to the San Diego Padres than he did the last time he played.
That didn’t mean he was back to playing like himself – or that he will be at any time during the playoffs.
The return of a Most Valuable Player can have transformative effects on a team, especially if that Most Valuable Player is as healthy as the Dodgers claimed Ohtani was after resting for two-plus weeks, but President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and manager Dave Roberts both spent time before the game managing expectations.
Asked which version of Ohtani was coming back to the team, Friedman replied, “I mean, these aren’t things there’s a clear answer to.”
Roberts said he wanted to see Ohtani “being controlled, taking good at-bats.”
By that standard, Ohtani’s first game back was a massive triumph.
In the first inning, Ohtani singled off left-hander Robbie Ray on the kind of low pitch he was physically incapable of reaching two or three weeks earlier because of his knee problem.
Ohtani later drove a high 99-mph fastball to the warning track, prompting Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis to scream: “That is a majestic fly ball!”
“I think if you look back at the last couple weeks when he was active, he wasn’t getting to that pitch,” Roberts said of the four-seamer upstairs from right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez.
For the most part, Ohtani didn’t swing at pitches outside of the strike zone. He worked two-ball counts in each of his first four plate appearances, and drew a walk in the third inning.
The Dodgers would almost certainly take games like this from Ohtani. Regardless of what he actually was and wasn’t able to do, the Padres viewed him as a threat, and that alone made him a presence in the lineup.
Ohtani has acknowledged he was unlikely to be 100% healthy again this season, but maintaining an aura of danger will require him to not return to where he was physically leading up to his IL stint.
“Shohei says he feels back to where he was earlier in the year, which is great, which is a good start,” Friedman said. “Now, it’s one thing to feel that way for any player coming back from the IL. When you’re coming back, now the question is, as you start to load on real games and that intensity and that workload, it’s making sure that what we’re done keeps guys in position to be at their best.”
Or, in this case, to at least be viewed as a threat.
Roberts previously described Ohtani as “pain-free” but acknowledged he was still dealing with “discomfort you can play through.” The Dodgers have already seen what happens when Ohtani plays too many games with his arm and knee problems, and every game he plays theoretically pushes him closer to the stage at which the pain becomes unbearable.
How close is Ohtani to that point?
Was the usually-aggressive Ohtani as patient as he was in the batter’s box because he wanted to protect his arm by limiting his swings?
Did his warning-track drive not clear the outfield wall because he hit the ball with the end of his bat or because he wasn’t at full strength?
What should be made of the two at-bats in which he struck out? With the bases loaded, two outs and the count full in the fourth inning, Ohtani was late on a 98.5-mph sinker by David Morgan. In the ninth, Ohtani looked as if he had no chance against closer Mason Miller, who struck him out on three pitches.
Ohtani wasn’t made available to answer any of these questions. By the time the clubhouse opened to reporters, Ohtani was gone.
