LOS ANGELES — Mired in one of his worst offensive stretches in recent memory, Shohei Ohtani will not be in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ batting order when he pitches on Wednesday. Then, the two-time reigning NL MVP will also be out of Thursday’s lineup, as manager Dave Roberts announced his desire to give his slumping slugger a breather.

It will mark the first time Ohtani will not start as a hitter in consecutive games in his Dodgers tenure.

That Ohtani homered and reached base safely three times in the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss to the Giants did not change Roberts’ mind. While the manager described Tuesday’s performance as a “turning point” for Ohtani, he also believes giving his leadoff hitter a mental breather is what’s best for him at this point of the season.

“I thought tonight was a really good night,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “Now to go out there, focus on pitching tomorrow, get that recovery on Thursday, I think that he can hopefully take that momentum from tonight and then be building on that.”

A sweet swing from Shohei Ohtani 🙌 pic.twitter.com/8rh7fWpD8A

— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2026

Roberts first disclosed his plans for Ohtani ahead of Tuesday’s game. He left the door cracked for Ohtani to potentially hit on Wednesday, but elected shortly before first pitch to commit to sitting him for two games. Roberts told Ohtani he would not hit Wednesday or Thursday, and did not want to reverse course — even after Ohtani slugged his first home run since April 26.

“We were both good with it,” Roberts said postgame. “I don’t like the bait and switch. I think that might’ve been something where, you know you get a couple days off of hitting and it might have freed him up. You just never know. To go back on a pact, a decision that we came upon or I came upon, I don’t like that.”

Ohtani’s offensive production has faltered significantly as he adjusts to a full season of two-way duties for the first time since 2023. Since April 13, Ohtani is hitting .200/.321/.300 and has just one home run in his past 26 games. After an 0-for-5 night in Monday’s 9-3 loss to San Francisco, his OPS fell to .767 — a far cry from his career mark of .950. Despite Roberts’ effort to provide an adequate amount of rest days over the first six weeks of the season, the manager sensed some fatigue from Ohtani.

Coming into play Tuesday, Ohtani had recorded 10 strikeouts in his past 10 games. He was not available to reporters after Tuesday’s loss, but is expected to speak to the media after his pitching start on Wednesday.

Ohtani singled and came around to score in the first inning against Giants starter Adrian Houser. When he tagged the right-hander for a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the third, the relief was palpable. Ohtani lifted his head to the sky while rounding the bases in exasperation, then joked with teammates in the dugout that he should ask for the baseball.

https://t.co/mBu6snNBK5 pic.twitter.com/4i4vXQH1L8

— Rowan Kavner (@RowanKavner) May 13, 2026

It was a rare bright spot in what has been a dismal stretch of Dodgers baseball. Los Angeles has lost four straight games and 14 of their last 23. They’ve scored two runs or fewer in eight of their last 13 games. Their last four losses have been by four runs or more; the last time that happened was July 1-4, 1936.

That could (in theory) up the incentive to keep Ohtani’s bat in the starting lineup, but Roberts believes Ohtani will still benefit from some time off. Roberts noted that, depending on the game situation, Ohtani could be available off the bench on Thursday. The hope, however, is that he can take at least one full day away from the plate.

“When the quality of at-bats starts to go down consistently, that’s a telling sign that there needs to be a break,” Roberts said. “You’re just not able, whether it’s mechanics or mind, to stay within your plan. Then the chase starts to spike. … I just can’t take for granted what’s on his plate. So I’m trying to be sensitive to that.”

In his return as a full-time starting pitcher, Ohtani has dazzled on the mound. Through six starts, he has a minuscule 0.97 ERA over 37 innings with a 10.2 strikeout-per-nine-innings rate, and looks to be an early National League Cy Young award contender. Still, he’s fallen short of his expectations offensively, which has been compounded with the rest of the Dodgers’ lack of production.

“He’s missing pitches he’s used to hitting,” hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc said Monday. “That’s the easiest way to put it. There are a lot of pitches that he normally cashes in that he’s missing.

“It’s probably more mechanical,” Van Scoyoc added. “The swing is not where it’s at normally. He’s used to cashing in on mistake pitches, and he’s missing them.”

The Dodgers do not believe Ohtani is dealing with any physical ailments. They’re chalking up his lackluster production to faulty mechanics, likely triggered by the demands of Ohtani’s pitching workload.

“The fatigue is bleeding into the mechanics,” Roberts said. “Most players get that towards the end of the summer. Now I’m learning, managing Shohei, it’s probably showing itself a little earlier as far as the tax on pitching and all that comes with it.”

Incorporating rest and reset days for Ohtani will continue throughout the season.

The Dodgers were prepared to be flexible in that regard. While he’s dominated on the mound, the Dodgers also need Ohtani to be a catalyst atop the lineup. The hope is that two days of a reset will get him going again — and the rest of the team will follow.

“(The offense) is not his sole responsibility,” Roberts said. “But when your best player is doing what he’s capable of doing, it just adds that energy into the dugout, frees guys up a little bit to do something too.”

“I think we all came in knowing that we had to read and react,” he added. “It was going to be fluid. It should be. It’s very unique. I think we’re still in early May, so … we have an opportunity to do things that way we feel are best for him.”