PITTSBURGH -- Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his scheduled start on the mound on Wednesday night vs. the Pirates at PNC Park, but remained in the lineup as the designated hitter in the leadoff spot. Right-hander Emmet Sheehan got the nod in Ohtani's place.
Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani was scratched because he has been dealing with a chest cold and generally feeling under the weather lately. He threw a side session on Tuesday in anticipation of his start but did not feel well, and his catch play was cut short.
After weighing how taxing it would be for Ohtani to throw five innings on the mound compared with taking five at-bats on a given night, the Dodgers decided it would be best to avoid pushing him too hard while he's under the weather. The expectation is that he'll start on the mound at some point this weekend in Baltimore.
"When you’re sick and potentially dehydrated," Roberts said, "[we were] just feeling like the tax of pitching in a game, it wasn’t worth it."
Ohtani clearly felt fine as a hitter on Tuesday night, as he ripped the hardest-hit ball of his career, a 120 mph laser into the right-field seats that was also his 100th home run as a Dodger. As a pitcher, he's coming off his first win of the season last Wednesday against the Reds, when he struck out a season-high nine across five innings of one-run ball.
With the Dodgers having two team off-days in the past week, the plan had been to skip Sheehan's turn in the rotation and use him out of the bullpen this week. Instead, he was available to slot into Ohtani's spot. The 25-year-old right-hander has not pitched since Aug. 25, when he struck out a career-high-tying 10 batters across seven scoreless innings.
Ohtani is not the only Dodger who's feeling under the weather. Max Muncy was dealing with a similar cold this past weekend, a minor setback as he nears the end of his rehab from a right oblique strain. Roberts said others on the team are not feeling great either.