Dodgers will continue slow buildup for Shohei Ohtani as pitcher

LOS ANGELES — As the second half begins, the Dodgers are still not ready to loosen the reins on Shohei Ohtani’s pitching work. But they are giving him a new partner.

Ohtani’s next start as a pitcher will come Monday night against the Minnesota Twins. ‘Piggybacking’ with him this time will be Dustin May. Ben Casparius and Emmet Sheehan filled that role for Ohtani’s first five starts. Casparius has returned to a bullpen role. Sheehan has moved into the starting rotation.

“Dustin has done it before so it’s really not going to be that big a deal for him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

The move does not necessarily signal a demotion for May, who has career-highs in ERA (4.96) and WHIP (1.35) but it’s a way to lighten his workload in his comeback season. May is second on the team to Yoshinobu Yamamoto in starts (17) and innings pitched (94⅓). Both are far and away career-highs for the oft-injured May.

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve already eclipsed probably where we would have expected at this point in time,” Roberts said. “So then to curtail, save – whatever way you want to kind of frame it – a little bit here and there should be a benefit to Dustin, too.”

In his last start before the All-Star break, Ohtani went three innings and threw 36 pitches against the San Francisco Giants, both season highs. But the slow pace of his buildup will continue. Roberts said Ohtani is expected to throw three innings on Monday, maybe increasing to four innings in his next two outings after that. So Ohtani won’t be throwing “a normal game,” Roberts said, any time soon.

“I think it just allows us to get the benefits of both sides in the sense of building Shohei up, to then have somebody behind him that is not just a typical bullpen game, that we feel that this person, whoever it might be on that particular night, can take down the majority of the game,” Roberts said. “And depending on how the game plays out, they can either keep going or we can pivot to leverage guys (short relievers).”

It will also give the Dodgers somewhere to stash one of their surplus starting pitchers – a luxury that seemed so far away for most of the first half but could be coming soon.

Tyler Glasnow rejoined the rotation before the All-Star break and started again on Friday. Blake Snell made his second rehab start on Tuesday in the Arizona Complex League. He threw three innings and is expected to build on that in his next rehab start on Sunday with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

If all goes well, Snell could rejoin the Dodgers’ starting rotation for the first time since April 2 during their next road trip, which begins next weekend in Boston.

Roki Sasaki has also continued throwing bullpen sessions, working toward a potential return in “late August,” Roberts said recently.

“Roki’s doing well. He worked over the All-Star break,” Roberts said Friday. “Everything I hear has been positive. So hopefully we can keep building him up and face some hitters, and get him out there competing again.”

QUICK HEALER

Injured third baseman Max Muncy was on the field before the game Friday and his recovery from a bone bruise in his left knee is going “quick,” according to Roberts.

“I think he’s swinging the bat. He’s doing some jogging and throwing,” Roberts said. “So he’s in great shape right now. I don’t really know a timeline. But I do know from the outset it’s going to be a lot sooner than anticipated, which is good for all of us.”

Muncy was injured on a play at third base during the Dodgers’ July 2 game against the Chicago White Sox. The expectation at the time was that he would miss six to eight weeks.

CEY HONORED

Longtime Dodgers third baseman Ron Cey was inducted into the Legends of Dodger Baseball before Friday’s game. A six-time All-Star with the Dodgers, he played the first 12 seasons of his 17-year major league career with the team. He ranks fifth in franchise history in home runs (228) and walks (765), is sixth in rWAR (47.7), and 10th in RBIs.

He is the ninth inductee into the Legends. Don Newcombe, Steve Garvey, and Fernando Valenzuela were so honored in 2019, and Valenzuela later got his jersey No. 34 retired in 2023. Maury Wills and Kirk Gibson were inducted into the Legends in 2022, Manny Mota and Orel Hershiser received the honor in 2023, and Dusty Baker was inducted last season.

UP NEXT

Brewers (RHP Freddy Peralta, 11-4, 2.66 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Emmet Sheehan, 1-0, 2.03 ERA), Saturday, 6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM