Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch for Dodgers in West Sacramento after all. Here’s why
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- Shohei Ohtani will not make his scheduled mound start Wednesday but will DH in the series.
- Roberts cited Ohtani's six-day rest pattern this season and a knee not 100%.
- The delayed start likely means Ohtani won't pitch in the All‑Star Game.
Shohei Ohtani, a four-time MVP, two-way star and one of the biggest names in all of baseball, will not make his scheduled start on the mound Wednesday in West Sacramento, with the Los Angeles Dodgers instead using a bullpen game, the team announced Tuesday.
The Dodgers are in California’s capital region this week to face the Athletics in a three-game series, which is likely the only time Ohtani and the two-time reigning World Series champions will come to Sutter Health Park during the A’s three-year stint in West Sacramento before a planned move to Las Vegas.
Ohtani is still expected to start all three games of the series at designated hitter, but won’t make his next start on the mound until Friday’s matchup with the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.
In Monday’s 9-4 Dodgers win, Ohtani showed out in front of a sold-out, Dodger-dominated crowd with two hits, including a projected 432-foot, three-run home run to all but put the game away. He was scheduled to bat leadoff at DH on Tuesday, the Dodgers said on social media.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the decision to delay Ohtani’s start was made for a few reasons, including Ohtani having only pitched on at least six days rest this season, which would require a start to get pushed back at some point during the next two weeks, when the Dodgers play 13 games in 13 days, according to the California Post’s Jack Harris.
Other factors, Roberts said, are that Ohtani’s knee is not 100% after a tweak injury and that his start getting pushed back means he will pitch against two National League West foes, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Padres, ahead of the All-Star game.
“There’s just no downside,” Roberts said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “This just made too much sense.”
Last week, MLB announced that Ohtani received the most votes of any player during Phase 1 of All-Star voting with over 3.3 million votes, earning him an automatic starting spot in the game at designated hitter. Ohtani has the third-highest on-base plus slugging percentage in MLB at .958 with a .297 batting average and 18 home runs this season.
While Ohtani made the All-Star Game as a hitter, the 31-year-old superstar has also put together a strong pitching season in 2026, holding a 1.58 earned run average with 86 strikeouts in 78 2/3 innings across 13 starts.
“There hasn’t been anyone in my lifetime that I’ve gotten to watch do what he’s doing at the level,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said of Ohtani ahead of Monday’s loss.
The move likely means Ohtani won’t pitch in the All-Star Game, as he is now scheduled to start the week of the game, and Roberts said previously he would not pitch if he wasn’t the starter.
Ohtani and the Dodgers take on the A’s at Tuesday and Wednesday at Sutter Health Park, both 6:40 p.m. starts, to conclude the three-game series.
This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 5:44 PM.
