Should the Dodgers be more cautious with Shohei Ohtani’s workload?
That’s what California Post baseball writers Dylan Hernandez and Jack Harris are debating on the latest episode of the Dodgers Post podcast.
Dylan and Jack record from Dodger Stadium after the team’s ugly series sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend. They review the team’s sloppy play in recent days, how much of a damper it put on the club’s first-half performance, and what they want to see from the Dodgers coming out of the break.
Then, they get into their main discussion: Analyzing Ohtani’s continued knee irritation, and how much it should impact his usage over the second half of the season.
Dylan believes it’s a good sign Ohtani agreed to rest right now, skipping both his most recent pitching start Friday at Dodger Stadium and the upcoming All-Star festivities in Philadelphia. Instead, Ohtani is staying back in Los Angeles to let his knee rest after he had it drained on Sunday.
Jack, on the other hand, sees this situation as a reminder of the delicate balance the Dodgers are trying to strike with Ohtani’s two-way workload, and advocates for a more manageable usage plan (even more days off mixed in between some pitching starts) as the Dodgers begin their march toward October.
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The two also note the similarities of this knee problem to the surgery Ohtani underwent in 2019, and whether that factor has added any more cause for concern to the equation.
Later, the two go through reader comments –– including a look-back on the Dodgers’ 2014 season –– then finish as always with predictions and trivia.
All that and more on the episode of Dodgers Post. Subscribe on YouTube or follow along on Apple and Spotify.
