Dave Roberts offered only the slightest of hedges on Tuesday afternoon.
As he’s done all spring, the Dodgers manager reiterated that the team will be cautious with Shohei Ohtani’s workload in his return to full-time two-way duties this year. On occasion, the club could look to give the four-time MVP extra days off between pitching outings or shorten his leash if it appears he is tiring during a start.
However, with Ohtani now two years removed from his second career Tommy John surgery, the hope is that the 31-year-old right-hander will be able to go wire-to-wire as a pitcher this year.
And if he does, Roberts has no doubts he will be a Cy Young candidate.
“Oh, yeah,” Roberts said. “Because of just talent, ability, will. If he does that, he’ll be in the conversation, absolutely. I have no doubt.”
Roberts only had to wait a few hours to have his faith further confirmed.
In Ohtani’s last tune-up of the spring, the one-of-a-kind superstar once again looked superb.
Though Ohtani’s final line was four-plus innings and three runs allowed, it belied the dominance he displayed for most of the night. Against the Angels’ likely Opening Day lineup, he struck out 11 batters and allowed only one hit before the fifth. Of the 35 swings the Angels took against him, 17 resulted in whiffs and only one netted a hard-hit ball of at least 95 mph.
All those K’s ballooned Ohtani’s pitch count, forcing him from the game at 86 pitches after three straight singles to lead off the fifth. Entering the night, Roberts said the goal was to get Ohtani into the sixth.
Still, when he walked off the rubber, the Angels had managed only one run against him, and a sparse Chavez Ravine crowd was giving him a standing ovation.
“He’s ready to go,” Roberts said. “The intensity was there. The focus was there. And the execution and all that stuff was there.”
Ohtani will next take the rubber for his regular-season pitching debut next Tuesday against the Guardians.
It will be the start of what he hopes is his first complete season as a pitcher since joining the Dodgers –– and perhaps a run at the one piece of hardware he has yet to win in his decorated career.
Here are four other takeaways from the Dodgers’ spring finale:
Cactus champs: Even with a 3-0 loss to the Angels on Tuesday night, the Dodgers clinched the best spring record among Cactus League teams with a 20-9-2 mark –– not that it means much to the two-time defending World Series champions. “Not at all,” Roberts joked this week when asked if he cared about his team’s spring title. “Unless it’s a correlation to winning the World Series.”
Wrobo relief: Justin Wrobleski will start the season as a bulk reliever who will likely piggyback with Ohtani (or Roki Sasaki if he struggles to pitch deep into games). On Tuesday, he looked perfectly comfortable in the role, coming out of the bullpen to retire all 12 batters he faced over four perfect innings with five strikeouts. Wrobleski can also serve as the Dodgers’ sixth starter when needed.
Caught my eye: A big reason Santiago Espinal made the Opening Day roster was because of his strong and versatile defense. On Tuesday, he put it on display by making two impressive plays on ground balls: one at second base and another after later moving to third.
Up next: The Dodgers are off Wednesday before kicking off their 2026 campaign with Thursday’s Opening Day game against the Diamondbacks.
