The Los Angeles Dodgers have decided on who will kick off their 2024 MLB playoff slate on the mound, and they may have also closed the door on who will not show his stuff for the entirety of the postseason.
Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani’s playoff pitching prospects look bleak despite bullpen activity
Dodgers superstar and 2024 National League MVP frontrunner Shohei Ohtani is unlikely to pitch for Los Angeles this fall, as general manager Brandon Gomes expressed on Wednesday, per a recent report from ESPN:
“Gomes said Wednesday that Ohtani will continue throwing bullpen sessions as he rehabs from his second elbow surgery a year ago, but there are no plans for him to face live hitters, much less take the mound in an actual game,” ESPN published.
“We don’t anticipate him pitching in the postseason,” the GM said.
Dodgers may need help in their pitching ranks this postseason
The Dodgers are set to start Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for Games 1 and 2 of the NL Divisional Series to kick off their playoff slate starting on Saturday. However, L.A. is short on help elsewhere in their rotation outside of those two top talents, as ace Tyler Glasnow as well as stars Gavin Stone and Clayton Kershaw are all either out for the year or doubtful to return at any point in the postseason due to varying ailments.
Ohtani, who has been on a historic tear all year long at the plate, is also an exceptional pitcher who has not thrown for L.A. in his debut 2024 season with the Dodgers due to elbow reconstruction surgery. While his recovery has not limited his ability to slug for Los Angeles, it has kept him from letting off his array of pitches. Though the Japanese superstar has been throwing bullpen sessions, it may take an all-out catastrophe in their ranks to necessitate that he exceed his recovery arc and pitch for the World Series-hopeful franchise this fall.
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The Dodgers can count on Ohtani playing like an MVP at the plate in the playoffs
As a result, the Dodgers will likely feature Landon Knack and the on-and-off Walker Buehler in Games 3 and 4 of the NLDS, though nothing has been officially declared yet. Expect Ohtani to continue the stellar play that gained him entry into the 50-50 club across the 162-game slate with an astounding .310/.390/.646 slash line and a 1.036 OPS — the latter three peripherals of which led the NL this year — as he spearheads the Dodgers toward a World Series crown.
