Ohtani not in Dodgers' pitching plans for Game 6 vs. Blue Jays

If the Los Angeles Dodgers are to force a Game 7, it will seemingly come without Shohei Ohtani on the mound.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters before Game 6 that Ohtani "is not a part of the pitching plan today."

Ohtani threw six innings in Game 4, allowing four runs and striking out six in a Dodgers loss.

The 31-year-old returned to the mound in 2025 after not pitching in 2024 as he recovered from UCL reconstruction surgery. In 47 regular-season innings, Ohtani worked a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts.

Roberts said the Dodgers will "circle up and have that conversation for tomorrow," if they win Game 6 and force a Game 7 on Saturday.

Ohtani has never pitched out of the bullpen in his MLB career. Thanks to his two-way exploits, MLB instituted a rule in 2022 that allows players who start the game on the mound to remain in the lineup as the designated hitter once they finish pitching.

The rule does not work for relievers, so if Ohtani were to throw out of the bullpen, he would have to move to a defensive position once he finished pitching to remain in the lineup.

"I don't know the answer right now," Roberts said about the logistics of Ohtani warming up while being in the lineup. "So I'm not going to have an answer for that one tonight. Give me a night to think about that one."

Los Angeles turns back to Yoshinobu Yamamoto for its starter on Friday night after the right-hander threw a complete game victory in Game 2.

"He's the number one option, and we're going to kind of watch how he's throwing the baseball," Roberts said. "This is a must-win game. But, yeah, there's a few guys that I'm going to go to tonight."

Roberts later added that Game 3 starter Tyler Glasnow would be available out of the bullpen in Game 6 if necessary.