Hernández: ‘Still a threat.’ Why Shohei Ohtani needs to remain a two-player for Dodgers

The day after he pitches, Shohei Ohtani turns into Michael Conforto.

Ohtani has played four games on days following his starts, and he’s taken a total of 15 at-bats in them.

He’s collected just one hit.

He’s struck out six times.

Ohtani pitched three innings in the Dodgers’ 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, which led to manager Dave Roberts being asked about Ohtani’s anticipated Confortization on Tuesday.

“In the batter’s box, he’s certainly still a threat,” Roberts said. “So I don’t think right now we’re giving that too much thought.”

Good.

Suspicions that Ohtani’s pitching has negatively affected Ohtani’s hitting have become almost immaterial.

Ohtani will remain a two-way player.

He will remain a two-way player for the remainder of the regular season, and he will remain a two-way player in October.

He should provide more than a couple of innings here and there. He should be a full-blown starter.

Because he wants to. Because the Dodgers need him to.

Ohtani is the best hitter on a team that can’t hit much of anything lately. He is the best pitcher on a team with an injury-ravaged pitching staff that sustained another likely loss on Monday night when closer Tanner Scott departed the game with forearm pain.

His value as a two-way player was evident in the opening game of the three-game series against the Twins, as he gave up a leadoff homer to Byron Buxton and returned the favor by crushing a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning.

The 2-1 lead was gradually extended, by a pair of solo home runs by Will Smith and another bases-empty shot by Andy Pages.

Ohtani pitched three innings, the damage inflicted against him limited to Buxton’s homer even though he was plagued by control problems. Ohtani struck out three batters and was charged with four hits and a walk while throwing 46 pitches.

“I thought I wanted to go four innings, but my pitch count was piling up,” Ohtani said in Japanese.

He will be extended to four innings in his next start, Roberts said.

The Dodgers might need every one of them, considering they have lost 10 of their last 13 games.

Ohtani didn’t know it at the time, but he spent six seasons preparing for something like this. On the Angels, he was a great player on a horrible team, which is what the Dodgers are at this moment.

The sorry state of the team didn’t stop Ohtani from trying to carry it then, and that’s not stopping him from trying to carry it now.

“I think he’s very mindful of where our team is right now,” Roberts said. “I feel he’s trying to will his way to kind of getting us over the hump. He’s competing. He’s taking really good at-bats. And he’s fighting. So I love what he’s doing.”

Ohtani has homered in each of the last three games.

“There’s just an extra level of focus I see in the decision-making at the plate,” Roberts said.

Roberts observed that Ohtani wasn’t driven by personal glory. He pointed to how Ohtani offered no resistance when he said he wanted to switch him and Mookie Betts in the batting order, with Ohtani dropping from the leadoff to No. 2 spot.

Ohtani batted first in every game until Sunday when Roberts moved a slumping Betts to the top of the lineup with hopes of jump-starting his season.

When Roberts texted Ohtani his thoughts the previous night, Ohtani replied by telling him to do whatever was best for the team, even if that meant batting him ninth.

“I have absolutely no problem with it,” Ohtani said. “What’s most important is that everyone can hit comfortably.”

Ohtani’s homers in the last two games came right after Betts reached base in front of him, with a single on Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers and with a walk on Monday against Twins starter David Festa.

“He wants to win,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “I think that him playing every day, him pitching, him taking walks when needed and switching spots with Mookie in the order, whatever is in the best interest of the ballclub, that’s what he’s doing.”

Ohtani is now 31. There are questions about whether his body can still withstand the workload required to play both ways, and rightfully so. But as the Dodgers have trudged through this midseason slump, Ohtani has revealed the spirit that was fundamental in making him the best player in the world. Roberts will wager the season on it. He has no other option.