Shohei Ohtani News: Next mound start set for Wednesday

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani will make his next start as a pitcher Wednesday against the Reds in Cincinnati, Ken Powtak of the Associated Press reports. "Shohei is going to go on Wednesday and then he'll probably pitch the following Wednesday, so that probably lends itself to the six-man," Roberts said, in reference to his plan to expand the Los Angeles rotation from five starters.

The two-way phenom has made six starts since getting cleared for his Dodgers debut as a pitcher on June 16. After first completing two one-inning starts, Ohtani followed with a pair of two-inning starts, then worked three innings apiece in his last two outings. Assuming Ohtani's usage pattern holds, he'll likely be in line to cover four innings Wednesday, though Roberts indicated that the Dodgers won't have a designated pitcher to piggyback the right-hander like they had in each of his previous six outings. That said, with Blake Snell (shoulder) potentially in line to return from the 60-day injured list later in the week to give the Dodgers seven starting pitchers, Emmet Sheehan could be moved to the bullpen and may be tasked with covering multiple innings behind Ohtani on Wednesday.