Shohei Ohtani has not pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers since July 3, as he is dealing with a knee injury and a biceps issue.
He has still been in the lineup as a hitter, but as of late, he has not looked like himself. In his last 14 games, he is hitting .137 and has struck out 20 times. His strikeout percentage is nearly 32.2% in that span, which is higher than his career average.
He went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts on Wednesday, and some of his swings did not look like his typical ones. The fear is that the injuries that have kept him off the mound are now ailing him at the plate. He did not come out of his last bullpen session feeling well, so it's possible that the injuries are bleeding into his hitting now.
"I saw the same thing that everyone saw," manager Dave Roberts said after the loss on Wednesday, per The Athletic's Katie Woo. "... Clearly the swings aren’t who he is.”
“He feels he needs to post... and I respect that," Roberts added. "But if he’s feeling the way he visibly looks, then really not helping anyone. That’s the conversation I’ll have with him.”
The problem is that the Dodgers offense has been so bad lately that they can't really afford to bench the best hitter on the planet. Even with the struggles in his last 13 games, it's hard to simply bench Ohtani. The Dodgers do have the option of doing so and letting Dalton Rushing be the designated hitter for a day, however.
It's possible that Ohtani is not in the lineup as the Dodgers try to avoid a sweep on Thursday, but sooner or later, the Dodgers need him to start swinging a hot bat again.