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By Ben Watanabe
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have the luxury of not needing to rush Shohei Ohtani back to the mound.
With their stable of starting pitchers, the Dodgers' rotation can easily weather Ohtani's pitching rehab.
Once Ohtani returns to the bump, however, what if it's not as a starter at all?
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts framed that as a possibility -- perhaps even the probability -- when addressing Ohtani's work in his pitching progression over the weekend. Before Ohtani even began playing catch on the field, Roberts allowed that if the two-way star does pitch again this season, it probably won't be in extended action.
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"Any innings we get from him are bonuses, given he's a two-way player," Roberts said last week, per MLB.com's Sonja Chen. "So I think whether it's one inning, two innings, three innings, I'm not too concerned about the timeline."
While definitely not as fun as watching Ohtani pitch six strong innings in a quality start, the thought of him as a one- to three-inning opener is still terrifying for opponents. Imagine Ohtani handing off to Tarik Skubal, who hands off to Tanner Scott, in a postseason game. Not even the Atlanta Braves or Milwaukee Brewers, whom the Dodgers are chasing for the No. 1 seed in the National League, can boast the depth of LA's arsenal.
A shorter workload has always been the most likely long-term destiny for Ohtani. At 32 years old, Ohtani must be treated even more carefully than he was as a 23-year-old wunderkind fresh from Japan. His bat is still elite, so the Dodgers would rather have his bat and not his arm than risk having neither.
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