Why isn't Shohei Ohtani batting tonight? Inside Dodgers' plans for star

LOS ANGELES — Despite Shohei Ohtani's multi-hit night that snapped his two-week-long home run drought on Tuesday night, the two-way superstar is out of the lineup for the third game of the Los Angeles Dodgers ' rivalry series against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, May 13. The move doesn't come as a surprise, as manager Dave Roberts had confirmed postgame Tuesday that Ohtani would not hit Wednesday after previously saying he was "leaning towards" sitting the two-way superstar for his outing on the mound in addition to a planned day off for Thursday's series finale. "We were both good with it," Roberts said.

"I don't like the baby switch. I think that sometimes that might have been something where you know you get a couple days off of hitting, and it might have freed him up. So, you just never know and to go back on a pact or a decision that we came upon or I came upon, I don't like that.

" Mookie Betts will take the leadoff spot on Wednesday while Teoscar Hernández will be the Dodgers' designated hitter. Roberts said that while Ohtani will not DH on Thursday, either, he may make him available to pinch-hit late in the game if the situation calls for it. But as currently planned, this will mark the first time Ohtani will be out of the lineup on two consecutive days for a non-injury or paternity leave-related reason since 2021, according to Jack Harris of the California Post .

Though the pitfalls of not having a guy that's hit over 50 home runs in each of the last two seasons in the lineup are obvious, Roberts believes this will only help Ohtani in the long run as an opportunity to physically and mentally reset. This is the first time in almost three years that Ohtani has the workload of both a full-time hitter and a full-time pitcher. He underwent a second surgical procedure on his throwing elbow in September 2023, three months before signing a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers.