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By Jackson Roberts
Contributing Sports Writer
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Shohei Ohtani's return to pitching has gone about as smoothly as the Los Angeles Dodgers could have hoped so far.
In nine starts, Ohtani carries a 3.47 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings. He began by throwing just a single inning at a time, and on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels, he pitched into the fifth for the first time.
But as good as Ohtani is on the mound, and as much as the Dodgers need to win ballgames right now, they're not willing to push him much farther.
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On Friday, ESPN's Alden González reported that Ohtani is "unlikely" to pitch six innings in an outing this season, and anything beyond that is completely off the table, per manager Dave Roberts.
"It's not easy when you're kind of in it, and you're competing, but he's just such a valuable player to us offensively, as a pitcher, and so to push for an extra inning, or call it five extra innings in totality -- it's just not worth it," Roberts told González.
"There's just way too much downside, instead of just staying the course. We all feel comfortable with our plan right now."
Roberts also admitted, however, that the original plan was to cut Ohtani off after four innings on Wednesday, but the team let him start the fifth after seeing him fare well in the fourth.
"I don't think he's there yet," Roberts told González. "I think it's only going to get better as he gets more time doing it."
The Dodgers won a World Series without Ohtani throwing a pitch last season, but this is a different roster, and one that might need its starters to give them more quality innings in the playoffs.
So, any signs of Ohtani slowing down will be closely monitored the rest of the way, because even one inning gained or lost could make a difference come October.
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