The Los Angeles Dodgers are in a very peculiar situation heading into the MLB playoffs. The team's magic number to win the NL West is three, but they have already clinched a spot in October.
On one hand, the Dodgers have seen the best efforts out of any starting rotation with Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow all getting into a groove. However, on the other hand, Los Angeles's bullpen has been atrocious and cannot be counted on. Tanner Scott and Blake Treinen have not been effective at all over the last two months, and it's starting to overshadow the great starting efforts.
When will Shohei Ohtani pitch in the postseason?
Well, this will depend on the final seeding the Dodgers earn. If Los Angeles wins the division, they will host a Wild Card series in Los Angeles against the team that earns the final Wild Card seed, which is still up in the air.
The consensus is that Shohei Ohtani, who has been phenomenal as a starter since joining the rotation in July, will start either game one or two of that Wild Card series. The Dodgers would have an off day after the second game of that series, which means it might make more sense to pitch Ohtani in the second game, so he has a recovery day after.
The biggest concern is what happens after Ohtani, or any other Dodgers' starter for that matter, is removed from the game. At this point, Tanner Scott and Blake Treinen can not be trusted in the late innings due to continuous meltdowns and blown saves. Both relievers, whom the Dodgers' front office signed to multi-year deals this offseason, have an ERA above 4.50 and multiple blown saves.
Ohtani has a 2.87 ERA in 47 innings this season, and 62 strikeouts to go along with. He has not given up an earned run in his last three starts, but two of those starts featured massive meltdowns by the bullpen.
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