Slumping Shohei Ohtani to once again take pause from hitting in next start

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Ohtani has hit on the field before a game less than a handful of times as a Dodger. His time is limited — when he was done hitting, he had to throw a bullpen session for his pitching start on Tuesday. Still, Ohtani let hitting coach Aaron Bates know Sunday afternoon he wanted to hit on the field when the Dodgers arrived in Houston. Maybe that would wake up the Dodgers’ dormant bats, who were in the midst of their longest homerless drought since July 2014. “Most of the time when he does this, it works,” manager Dave Roberts said on Monday afternoon. “So we’ll see what happens tonight.” The Dodgers broke through before Ohtani could even get a second at-bat in Monday’s 8-3 win over the Astros. It was Alex Freeland, the struggling No. 9 hitter, who lifted an opposite-field blast into the Crawford Boxes to give them their first home run in seven days. “I forgot that we hadn’t hit a home run in a while,” Freeland said, before joking. “Maybe there is a prize. I don’t know.” An inning later, Kyle Tucker marked his return to Houston with a solo shot to right. The Dodgers’ lineup, for a night, was back. A quiet offense exploded for seven runs in the game’s first three innings, feasting on a feeble Houston Astros pitching staff that entered the day with the worst ERA in the majors (5.75). The Dodgers’ eight runs were the most they’d scored in a game in nine days, and their first time scoring more than six runs in a game since April 26. It was a good night to hit, for almost everyone. “We had a lot of good at-bats today and got some huge hits when we needed it,” Tucker said. “We just kept tacking on, which is good,” Roberts said. This is a lineup that is at its best when Ohtani is at his best. He is still looking to get right, even after drawing a pair of walks after his pregame hitting session. An 0-for-3 night  extended Ohtani’s hitless streak to 17 at-bats, his longest with the team. He’s slugged just one home run since April 12. The worst offensive stretch of his Dodgers tenure has caught team officials off guard, even baking in the fact that Ohtani, who won Pitcher of the Month honors for March/April, is in the midst of his first full two-way season since 2023. “I really didn’t entertain that,” Roberts said. “I guess what he’s done the past couple years you sort of get use to — not appreciating what he’s taking on this year in ‘26. But he’s going to figure it out.” Ohtani’s two-play complicates things, even though president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and others have insisted his pitching is taking away from his hitting. His .814 OPS is the first time it’s been below .850 this deep into a season since 2023, his last time doing this on a full-time basis. His slump has progressed enough that the Dodgers shifted course for their original plans for Ohtani’s start on the mound on Tuesday. Hours after confirming his plan was to hit and pitch Ohtani against the Astros, Roberts said he would only have Ohtani pitch. It will mark the third time in four pitching starts that he hasn’t hit. What started as a means for preserving Ohtani’s health has turned into a respite of sorts to reset his bat. “Just kind of seeing how it’s playing out, I think it’s best for everyone,” Roberts said. The decision came over the course of watching Monday’s game, he added. “Definitely not (based on) results. It’s a little bit more body language and just watching the player.” Ohtani is not himself at the plate right now. In Ohtani’s last session with the media six days ago, he admitted it is more difficult to correct a slump when so much of his bandwidth is taken up by pitching. “When things are not going well it’s not easy in the sense that I have to make sure that I’m healthy and not overdoing it in terms of repetition,” Ohtani said then through interpreter Will Ireton. Bates said Ohtani’s number of pre-game swings has not changed this year from where it had been in his first two seasons with the club. Even on the days where he has pitched this last month, Ohtani still kept his routine. That doesn’t mean each swing is created equal, especially when factoring in everything else that is on Ohtani’s plate. Especially when Ohtani’s swing is not right. “Obviously, the last couple years hitting-wise, he’s pretty much been locked in, for the most part, for most of the year,” Bates said. “A couple different little valleys, but short ones. So he never really had to pull himself out of one while also pitching so effectively, too. So I think it’s just like, as a hitter gets on a roll, their body is moving a certain way, it’s moving great. You don’t have to dive in quite as much. And then, on the other side of things, if it’s not, then you have to spend more time on it.” There isn’t much long-term concern that Ohtani will figure it out. Just as there wasn’t any internal pearl-clutching for an offense that clearly bottomed out over the last week. They were going to hit another home run eventually. The runs will follow. “We don’t really focus on the home runs,” Bates said. “It’s more so just, what pitches are we swinging at? If we impact the ball the way we want to, and we swing at good pitches, then, usually, the home runs are a byproduct of that.” Several Dodgers have been searching for their swings, including Freddie Freeman, who, like Ohtani, altered his routine and hit on the field on Monday. It didn’t help that a majority of the roster has been hit hard by an illness that has gone throughout the lineup. The offense hardly broke out Sunday, scoring four times as the Dodgers snapped a season-worst four-game losing streak the final day in St. Louis. They romped against Astros opener Steven Okert and bulk pitcher Ryan Weiss, as every hitter reached base safely before the end of the third inning. Everyone, or almost everyone, had the night they’ve been waiting for. “I think tonight, the offense was a story, and it was good to see us look a little bit more normal,” Roberts said. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms