LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani will “probably” start a potential decisive Game 3 of the wild-card series, or pitch the opener of an ensuing National League Division Series if his team advances sooner, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Monday’s workout at Dodger Stadium.
Blake Snell will start Game 1 on Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds, who will counter with Hunter Greene. The Dodgers are scheduled to go with Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2, and the Reds will turn to Zack Littell. Nick Lodolo would have been lined up to take that start, but the Reds had to use him out of the bullpen in a must-win game in Milwaukee on Sunday.
“We want to be really cognizant of him and how much we can ask of him,” Reds manager Terry Francona said.
Emmet Sheehan and Tyler Glasnow are expected to be available as relievers in the wild-card series for the Dodgers — as is Roki Sasaki, the Japanese starting pitcher who regained his fastball velocity and has been effective out of the bullpen in recent weeks. Clayton Kershaw will be held out after starting Sunday. Roberts said Kershaw will be on the Dodgers’ NLDS roster if they advance.
Ohtani made his final regular-season start last Tuesday and would have been lined up for Game 1, but so was Snell. Yamamoto, meanwhile, lined up on his normal five days’ rest for Game 2. Roberts said allowing Ohtani to utilize the Thursday off day after his start played a part in holding him back for a potential Game 3.
Max Muncy, who missed the Dodgers’ last four regular-season games because of what the team has described as lower-body soreness, expects to be ready when the wild-card series begins Tuesday.
“Everything feels good,” Muncy said before Monday’s workout. “I’m hoping to be in there tomorrow. Obviously, not my choice; I don’t make the lineups, but with the weekend, it was a good chance to get the body to reset and work on a couple things, and that’s where we’re at right now.”
Roberts said he expects Muncy and Tommy Edman, who has had a nagging ankle injury, to be fully available for the series. But the status of Will Smith, the Dodgers’ every-day catcher and an important middle-of-the-order hitter, is still in question.
Smith, trying to come back from a hairline fracture in his right hand, took batting practice in the indoor cage Monday afternoon and later joined Muncy and Edman in live at-bats against Bobby Miller and Kyle Hurt. Roberts said before the live-at-bat session that he was “encouraged” by Smith’s progress but inserting him into the Game 1 starting lineup could be a game-time decision. Keeping him on the roster and having him at least serve as a pinch-hitting threat is a “viable thought,” Roberts added.
