The Dodgers reached Wednesday night in San Francisco looking for a reset, and Shohei Ohtani is set to help provide it. Los Angeles was scheduled to visit the Giants after losing two of three games to the Colorado Rockies and then dropping the opener of this series.
Dave Roberts said Ohtani wants to get back on track and give the Dodgers a chance to win, a message that fit the urgency of a team that has lost three of its last four. The manager said Ohtani's consistency has impressed him most on the mound, where the two-way star has gone 2-0 in three starts this season with one earned run allowed over 18 innings.
That pitching line stands in sharp contrast to the start Ohtani has had at the plate. He has five home runs, but his batting line is his worst since joining the Dodgers, leaving Los Angeles with a star who is still producing on the mound while searching for his usual damage in the box. The five homers are also behind the 50-homer pace he maintained over the past two seasons, a reminder that even a player of Ohtani's caliber can carry uneven stretches.
The timing matters because the Dodgers needed a lift immediately, not later. After the loss to Colorado and the opening-game setback against San Francisco, Wednesday night became less about one start and more about whether Ohtani could steady a team that has stumbled through its last four games.
The bigger question is whether one sharp outing can turn the tone of a season in which Ohtani's pitching has been reliable and his bat has not. For the Dodgers, that split remains the story: a rare talent giving them quality innings while they wait for the rest of his game to catch up.