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LAS VEGAS – The Dodgers could re-sign Tarik Skubal.
They could inject youth in their lineup.
They could improve their bullpen.
None of that will matter if Shohei Ohtani isn’t healthy in October, and based on what general manager Brandon Gomes said on Tuesday, there should be serious concerns that he won’t be.
While Gomes refrained from saying how Ohtani would be managed in 2027, every indication was that Ohtani will be permitted to attempt what he failed to do this year, which was to be a two-way player from the start of the season to the finish.
“It doesn’t mean that if he goes wire to wire, [next] year plays out in the same way,” Gomes said.
With Ohtani breaking down by the middle of the season.
With Ohtani not even close to performing like the offensive force he was required to be for the Dodgers to win another World Series.
But Gomes didn’t sound as if the Dodgers were thinking of delaying the start of Ohtani’s season as a pitcher to control his workload.
Gomes said Ohtani would have a “normal” offseason.
Their plans for his winter throwing program?
“Leave it up to him,” Gomes said.
Leave it up to Ohtani and he will almost certainly prepare himself to be ready to pitch when the Dodgers open their season.
And once he does that, why wouldn’t he want to pitch from the start?
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“I think the competitor in everybody is always that they’re gonna play 162 [games],” Gomes said. “Knowing Shohei, that’ll be his mindset.”
And that could be trouble.
Wagering on Ohtani to deliver in the batter’s box or on the mound is entirely defensible.
Wagering on him to remain healthy as a full-time two-way player at this stage of his career borders on reckless.
The last time Ohtani was a hitter and pitcher for an entire season was in 2022.
He turns 33 next year.
By now, the Dodgers have to know that Ohtani can’t be trusted to recognize his own physical limitations.
A person’s strengths and weaknesses spring from the same well, and in the case of Ohtani, he has an extraordinary tolerance for pain as well as a drive to win. The qualities have shaped him into the No. 1 player in the world, but they were also responsible for him blowing out his elbow with the Angels in 2023 and for what happened this year.
The responsibility to protect Ohtani from himself will be that of the Dodgers, who can’t be as passive with him as they were this year.
“I think it’s just making sure that we are taking all of the information into account and trying to set up a system that allows him to pitch and be successful and be healthy towards the end because we know how dominant he can be on the run,” Gomes said.
Gomes offered a couple of examples of what the Dodgers could do. They could start him less frequently early in the season. They could give him more days off as a hitter.
Ohtani will be consulted.
“I think for us to unilaterally decide that doesn’t make sense,” Gomes said. “So, it’s really bringing him into the conversation and figuring out how to navigate a full season.”
That arrangement produced disastrous results this year, as the Dodgers listened to Ohtani when he said he believed he could play through injuries to his knee and arm.
His condition worsened to where he couldn’t make his final pitching start before the All-Star break. By mid-July, his physical problems were starting to affect him in the batter’s box.
The Dodgers were able to win their division with a limited version of Ohtani, but the playoffs were a different story.
Ohtani batted just .192 in the postseason. He had only one extra-base hit – a home run in their season-ending defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
Gomes made it sound as if Ohtani would be given the chance to have his dream season – to be a dominant two-way player from opening day to the final game of the World Series. By granting him that opportunity, however, they will be exposing themselves to the possibility of reliving their worst nightmare.
