Dodgers concerned with Shohei Ohtani's health and fatigue?

Shohei Ohtani produced his best two-way start of the season by throwing five scoreless innings and hitting a home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he would keep a watchful eye on Ohtani because he had played a lot recently and the team did not know what to expect. Ohtani threw 88 pitches, and his average fastball velocity dropped by the fifth inning. Roberts noted Ohtani appeared to manage his fastball in the third and fourth innings and did not have his best stuff, but still recorded big outs. Ohtani said he did not feel right before the game, described uncertainty due to poor feel, and expressed disappointment despite good results.

"“Tonight's going to be an interesting one,” Roberts said before the game. “I expect him to put his best foot forward, but I'll keep a close eye on him. This is going to be an interesting one because he's played a lot recently, so we'll see.”"

"“I thought it was a little bit of a grind in the sense that I don't think he felt his best,” Roberts said. “I think in the third and fourth innings, you could see kind of putting the governor on his fastball, just managing it and then reaching back for more when he needed to. I don't think he had his best stuff tonight, but he found a way to get big outs when he needed to.”"

"“A lot of uncertainty coming into this outing because the feel wasn't great,” Ohtani said through his interpreter, Will Ireton. “The results were good, but as you saw, the process wasn't that great.” Ohtani added that there isn't any specific issue, but instead just his “overall feel.”"

"“I have a pretty high standard in terms of performance, so it didn't really match,” he said. “I have a pretty high standard in terms of performance, so it didn't really match,” he said."

Read at Dodger Blue