DENVER -- Shohei Ohtani is set to make his next start on the mound on Saturday afternoon against the Royals, manager Dave Roberts said on Thursday. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. PT/3:10 CT at Kauffman Stadium.
It will mark Ohtani's third pitching appearance as a Dodger. He tossed an inning apiece in his first two starts; he's essentially serving as an opener while he continues to build up his workload at the big league level.
Ohtani threw 28 pitches in his first outing and 18 in his second. As long as his pitch count is in good shape, he could conceivably come back out for at least the beginning of the second inning. But Roberts and the Dodgers have preferred not to set any hard pitch or inning counts for Ohtani.
On the mound, Ohtani has struck out two and given up one run on two hits and zero walks across two innings. His command has been a work in progress, which is to be expected coming off a second major surgery on his right elbow.
Ben Casparius, who is also stretching out, followed Ohtani out of the bullpen in his prior appearances and could do so again on Saturday.