{"id":655046,"date":"2026-05-20T20:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/655046\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T20:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:02:16","slug":"shohei-ohtani-returning-to-two-way-duty-wednesday-vs-padres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/655046\/","title":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani Returning to Two-Way Duty Wednesday vs. Padres"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> are unleashing their two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani<\/a> Wednesday night after several games of leaving him out of the batting order on days he pitches.<\/p>\n

Manager Dave Roberts had been considering having Ohtani return to hitting on days he pitches and, after the Dodgers\u2019 electric 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres<\/a>, he confirmed Ohtani will indeed be pulling double duty, as reported by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Why wasn\u2019t Shohei Ohtani hitting and pitching in the same game?<\/p>\n

Ohtani, who has been absolutely stellar on the mound this season, was performing below his usual standards at the plate.<\/p>\n

\"MayMay 13, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the San Francisco Giants<\/a> at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Even teammates like Mookie Betts acknowledged Ohtani\u2019s hitting wasn\u2019t quite where it has historically been<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Roberts had recently decided to have Ohtani only pitch, not hit, in several games, though now that Ohtani has had an offensive resurgence in May \u2014\u00a0including a pair of doubles Tuesday night \u2014\u00a0it appears that slump has come to an end.<\/p>\n

Ohtani now will get another chance to show what he can do while pitching and hitting in the same game, an opportunity Dylan Hernandez of the California Post<\/a> said could determine how much he is allowed to continue to do so.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf Ohtani wants to make the case that his pitching and hitting don\u2019t affect each other, here\u2019s an opportunity to present compelling evidence,\u201d Hernandez wrote. \u201cHe just has to hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

How has Shohei Ohtani been hitting recently?<\/p>\n

Ohtani couldn\u2019t ask for better momentum at the plate coming into this start on the mound.<\/p>\n

He has four straight multi-hit games, including a triple, three doubles and eight RBIs in that span.<\/p>\n

\"May<\/p>\n

May 19, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a single during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t been held hitless since May 11 against the San Francisco Giants, and he followed up that disappointment by going 2-for-5 with a home run.<\/p>\n

If Ohtani can continue this level of performance at the plate, he\u2019ll be looking for his seventh straight game with a hit Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

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Do you think Ohtani can regularly hit and pitch on the same night?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Dodgers are unleashing their two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani Wednesday night after several games of leaving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[234527,4284,2323,363,4286,2328,2329,3956,99],"class_list":["post-655046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-bill-plunkett","tag-dave-roberts","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-mlb","tag-mookie-betts","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}