PHOENIX — Shohei Ohtani needed just one well-spotted fastball to Corbin Carroll to get out of the only real jam of his start against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Ohtani zipped it in at knee level, and Carroll drilled it into the ground, right to second baseman Alex Freeland. As the Dodgers defense turned a quick double play, Ohtani pumped his fist.
With that, he wrapped up the pitching half of one of his best two-way performances of the season.
With Shohei, every run is a premium,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 7-0 win Wednesday. “He’s literally trying to throw a shutout every time out there, where I don’t know that every starter has that mindset.”
Ohtani only allowed three base runners (two hits and a walk), while reaching base himself five times (three hits and two walks). With six scoreless innings pitched, Ohtani improved his ERA to 0.74, the third-lowest ERA any pitcher has recorded in his first 10 starts of the season (excluding openers) since the earned run became an official stat in 1913, according to MLB.com.
He came in behind only Jacob deGrom in 2021 (0.56) and Juan Marichal in 1966 (0.59). Not to mention, at the same time, Ohtani the hitter has a National League-leading .420 on-base percentage. At the time of his third hit Wednesday, he became one of 15 qualified hitters in MLB with a batting average over .300.
While there were plenty of aspects of his performance to laud on Wednesday, Ohtani’s efficiency on the mound was the most notable development.
“I moved well overall,” Ohtani said by way of explanation, through interpreter Will Ireton. “From the pregame bullpen, I felt pretty good.”
Ohtani retired the first 11 batters he faced. Finally, with two out in the fourth inning, Gabriel Moreno bounced a double up the right-field line for the Diamondbacks’ first hit of the game.
They didn’t reach base again until one out into the sixth inning, when Ohtani walked No. 9 hitter Tommy Troy on four pitches. But Ohtani reeled himself back in to face the top of the order.
Despite surrendering a line-drive single to Geraldo Perdomo, Ohtani escaped unscathed thanks to the inning-ending double play.
“He’s done a phenomenal job,” said right fielder Kyle Tucker, who also had a three-hit day. “I mean, I don’t throw 100 [mph] so I can’t relate or know what he goes through, but he’s given us everything he has every single time he goes out there, every single day.”
Though Ohtani had only given up one run in his previous three starts combined, his command hadn’t been fully dialed in the last two outings.
Ohtani threw six hitless innings last week against the Rockies but issued four walks and hit a batter. The week before, he blanked the Padres but only made it through five innings on 88 pitches.
Yes, that’s nitpicking. But for a Cy Young candidate who, as part of a six-man rotation, won’t pitch in as many games as his competition, efficiency matters.
It clearly means a lot to Ohtani, too.
He said after his hitless performance last week, through interpreter Will Ireton: “I could’ve pitched deeper into the game if I give up hits. Just the walks lead to shorter outings. And I would rather take the days where I get hit a little bit but still be efficient rather than walking and just not being able to pitch deeper into the game.”
In a lopsided game Wednesday, the Dodgers didn’t need Ohtani to pitch any deeper than the sixth inning. When he exited, his pitch count was at 89.
The top of the order — led in the leadoff spot by Ohtani, continued to click. And this time, Tucker joined in.
Tucker entered Wednesday with a .715 OPS, the lowest mark of any of the Dodgers lineup regulars who have been healthy all year. But he showed signs of a potential breakout, as he hit a home run and two line-drive singles in consecutive at-bats.
Tucker’s home run clocked an exit velocity of 107.6 mph, the hardest contact he’s made in play this year, per Statcast.
“That’s kind of the swing I’ve been searching for the whole time,” Tucker said.
The bottom half of the order tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh. Max Muncy’s double into the right-field corner started the two-out rally, and Freeland’s single through the middle of the infield — one of three hits for the young infielder — cashed in.
Until those runs, Roberts said he’d been considering sending Ohtani back out for the seventh.
Right-hander Jonathan Hernández (two innings) and lefty Jack Dreyer (one inning) completed the shutout that Ohtani started.
Load management
Ohtani is scheduled to get the day off Thursday, Roberts said before Wednesday’s game. Roberts left open the possibility of a pinch-hit appearance Thursday with the game on the line.
But the Dodgers won’t necessarily feel the need to find him rest days, either by lining his start up before an off day in the schedule or giving him the day off, after every two-way day.
The Dodgers are in the midst of a 10-day stretch without an off day, playing into the decision to sit Ohtani Thursday.
“I feel we can empty the tank on the pitching, the hitting side [Wednesday] then give him that full day tomorrow,” Roberts said before the game. “Whereas a couple weeks [ago], I felt he needed two days to kind of reset. I think that reset did him well. But I think as we look out to the next one we’ll kind of read and react.”
Earlier in the year, the Dodgers had experimented at times with giving Ohtani the day off from hitting when he pitched. And as he started coming out of his offensive slow start, Roberts even gave him a full day off after a day of only pitching.
Ohtani was back to a full starter’s workload for the first time since 2023, even mentioning fatigue in his postgame interview after his second start of the season, and before games was working to address his offensive struggles.
With Ohtani both hitting well and appearing more refreshed lately, however, he’s been in the batting order for his past three starts on the mound.
“That’s more of the conversations that we’ve had,” Roberts said of prioritizing the full recovery day. “[Wednesday] is going to be taxing more mentally because he’s trying to hit and pitch. But [Thursday], just the overall body soreness and fatigue is something that, if we can manage that, it kind of gives us a chance to get through the next days after.”
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