Shohei Ohtani will play in Dodgers’ regular-season finale — but shouldn’t

SAN FRANCISCO – Shohei Ohtani will play in the Dodgers’ regular-season finale, but why?

The Dodgers held out Freddie Freeman and limited Blake Snell to four innings in a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. They can give Ohtani a break on Sunday.

Four games into his return from a 15-day stay on the injured list, and Ohtani already doesn’t look right.

He is 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in two games at Oracle Park this weekend, the solitary hit being a ground-ball single on Saturday that went under the glove of Giants infielder Brett Harris, who could have been charged with an error on the play.

In his most recent game, Ohtani didn’t even swing the bat when he was on deck.

Is his right arm hurting again?

The Dodgers won’t acknowledge it, but Ohtani’s decline in form has to be a major concern for the organization, which not only has to figure out how to keep him healthy enough to withstand multiple rounds of the playoffs but also what it will do if he isn’t. 

Josue De Paula should remain on standby.

Ohtani still figures to be the designated hitter for the Dodgers in the National League Division Series, which will start on Oct. 3. As demonstrated by the caution exercised by the San Diego Padres when pitching to him earlier in the week, his presence alone is valuable.

But if the Dodgers advance to the next round, what happens then, especially if Ohtani continues to play the way he has in San Francisco?

He’s followed two promising games at Dodger Stadium with two games in which he’s once again looking like he did when he was in a crippling slump leading up to his IL stint.

For what it’s worth, manager Dave Roberts said he didn’t think any of this was health-related.

“I don’t see any wincing,” Roberts said.

Roberts blamed Ohtani’s approach.

“I thought there was just more chase today,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if he’s trying to get hits, find his swing, getting a little overanxious.”

Roberts also wondered aloud if Ohtani could be rusty after spending more than two weeks on the IL.

He is right on the point that Ohtani isn’t seeing the ball well.

In his second at-bat on Saturday, Ohtani challenged a first-pitch strike call.

The Automated Ball-Strike System confirmed what home plate umpire Nick Mahrley saw, which is that Matt Wilkinson’s changeup was comfortably a strike.

Ohtani is in the situation he is now because the Dodgers wanted to believe that he wasn’t as hurt as he looked. By listening to him instead of believing their eyes, they let him push his body to a point of no return.

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Their task now will be to salvage whatever can be salvaged of Ohtani.

In the five days the Dodgers have between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs, Roberts said preserving his health will be prioritized over improving his swing.

“Just manage his workload,” Roberts said. “I know Shohei is good about managing his work. He’s not going to overswing. He’s very well aware of what it’s going to take. I’m not too concerned about that.”

The Dodgers can win a World Series without Ohtani being the version of himself who homered 50-plus times in each of the last two seasons.

Mookie Betts has continued to produce. Andy Pages has looked dangerous since his return from the IL. Teoscar Hernandez and Kyle Tucker have shown signs of life. Kiké Hernández could be gearing up for another heroic postseason run, as his ninth-inning home run accounted for the winning run on Saturday.

In the two games Ohtani played earlier in the week at Dodger Stadium, his home-run strength looked more like warning-track power, but he reached base four times in 10 appearances.

Roberts said he would take that.

“All day long,” he said.

Roberts said before the Giants series, “I’ll take this version of Shohei all the way through October and on every result.”

If the Dodgers aren’t careful, they won’t even have that.