Slumping at the plate, Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani will just pitch on Tuesday

HOUSTON - The National League Pitcher of the Month was on the field at Daikin Park early Monday afternoon – taking batting practice.

Ohtani was given the NL honor after going 2-1 with a 0.60 ERA and holding batters to a .160 average in his first five starts of the season.

He has been less successful in his other job. Ohtani went hitless Monday despite the early work and is now 0 for his past 17 – a slump that started after his last pitching start. Ohtani was 7 for 11 before that game but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts kept him out of the lineup as DH against the Miami Marlins and he hasn't had a hit since.

As late as Monday's pregame, Roberts said Ohtani would be in the lineup as DH when he makes his next pitching start on Tuesday night. After another hitless game, though, Roberts said he had changed his mind and Ohtani will not hit on Tuesday.

"He's working hard, he was out there early today," Roberts said after Monday's game. "Tomorrow, he is just going to pitch. … I just decided that, just kind of watching him – just give him the opportunity to focus on the pitching, rest his body, and then we'll figure out who's going to be the designated hitter tomorrow.

"During the game, just kind of seeing how things are going, and then I just felt that, in my mind, just kind of seeing how it's playing out, I think it's best for everyone."

After Monday's 0 for 3 (with two walks and two runs scored), Ohtani is batting just .240 with an .814 OPS and only one home run in his past 85 plate appearances. The average is the lowest he has ever had 35 games into a full season while the OPS is the second-lowest (it was .759 35 games into the Angels' 2022 season).

So Ohtani made a rare appearance on the field for early batting practice Monday. It is only the fourth time since joining the Dodgers that he has hit on the field – he prefers to do his work in the batting cages (as do some other hitters). But it is the second time in the past month, a sign of the struggle Ohtani is feeling at the plate.

"I was pleasantly surprised," Roberts said. "I think that he talked to (hitting coach) Aaron (Bates) yesterday and said he wanted to get on the field. And I think it's a good thing, I do. Obviously he's got his own routine. He's in the cage and consistent with that. But he's obviously not seeing the baseball well, swinging well.

"To kind of see the flight of the ball – a lot of times that's why hitters try to get out on the field. Most of the times when he does this it works. So we'll see what happens tonight."

Bates said Ohtani has been dissatisfied with the "gather" movement in his swing.

"It's a domino effect as far as, he finishes his gather then gets through the baseball as opposed to kind of cutting the gather short," Bates said. "But he's aware of it all, just kind of feeling through it. And then as every hitter is, they have their cues that work and they all have a kind of playbook in their head that they translate what Rob (Van Scoyoc) and I are saying to them."

Ohtani has two playbooks in his head this year. After hitting on the field, he threw in the bullpen, preparing for his pitching start on Tuesday.

After his start last week, Ohtani acknowledged the difficulty of breaking out of a slump at the plate while also focusing on pitching every six days.

"It is easier to maintain something good when things are going well," he said through his interpreter. "But when things are not going well it's not easy in the sense that I have to make sure that I'm healthy and not overdoing it in terms of repetition. So while I'm working on certain things, it's also a balancing act of making sure I'm not overdoing it physically and making sure that I'm healthy."

Hitters tend to try and hit their way out of slumps by spending extra time in the batting cage. But Bates said Ohtani has been taking "pretty close to the same amount of cage swings" as usual even as he splits his time with pitching preparation this year.

"Obviously the last couple years hitting-wise, he's pretty much been locked in, for the most part, for most of the year. A couple different little valleys, but short ones," Bates said. "So he never really had to pull himself out of one while also pitching so effectively too. So I think it's just like, as a hitter gets on a roll, their body is moving a certain way, it's moving great. You don't have to dive in quite as much. And then, on the other side of things, if it's not, then you have to spend more time on it, whether it's mechanics, alignment, setup. Every hitter is different."

EVER FORGET?

Any series between the Dodgers and Houston Astros raises the specter of the 2017 World Series. The Astros beat the Dodgers in seven games and were later found to have been guilty of using a sign-stealing system.

The fact that there was essentially no discipline for the Astros created bitterness on the Dodgers' side of things. Nearly a decade removed with no players from the 2017 team still on the Dodgers' active roster (Kiké Hernandez is on the injured list), Roberts said he has moved on.

"I've gotten past it," Roberts said Monday. "There's not a whole lot of the same guys here (Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers Jr. remain). The fan base is the fan base. Our fan base has feelings about them. Their fan base has feelings about us. I really, honestly, just want to get out and win a series and play good baseball. Honestly, I don't put too much thought into it."

Roberts was asked if winning three World Series titles since 2017 has had something to do with his finding acceptance.

"That certainly helped," he said with a smile.

REHAB REPORT

Brock Stewart and Blake Snell joined the Dodgers in Houston on Monday after pitching for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday on their rehab assignments.

Snell is expected to make another rehab start (probably his final one) on Saturday (where has not been decided). Stewart will likely be activated from the IL during the series in Houston.

"Arm feels good. Stuff and velo and movement have all been good. Command could always get better, but I've been happy with the results," said Stewart, who had shoulder surgery last September.

"I think most guys get about eight outings or around there in spring training and that's what I had (on his rehab assignment). So … that's kind of what I treated it as."

Hernandez (elbow surgery) is expected to start his rehab assignment with OKC this week, working toward a return in late May. Fellow utility man Tommy Edman (ankle surgery), meanwhile, has had some "residual soreness," according to Roberts, "so we kind of backed him off a little bit. But nothing too alarming. He's just on a slower program."

Shortstop Mookie Betts (oblique) is expected to face live pitching in a simulated game setting on Thursday and could go on a rehab assignment "soon."

UP NEXT

Dodgers (RHP Shohei Ohtani, 2-1, 0.60 ERA) at Astros (RHP Peter Lambert, 1-2, 3.52 ERA), Tuesday, 5:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 6:29 PM.