As his march toward history has neared its final destination in recent weeks, Shohei Ohtani has tried to side-step all the chatter surrounding his chase for 50-50.
“It’s something I will look back on at the end of the season,” the Dodgers slugger, who is attempting to become the first player in Major League Baseball history with 50 home runs and 50 steals in the same season, said last week. “I’m trying to be less cognizant of it [for now].”
His manager, however, is calling his bluff.
“He cares,” Dave Roberts said with a sly grin recently. “I think he wants to be the best player that’s ever played this game, and one way to do that is to do something nobody has ever done. Which he has already done. But, you also like round numbers.”
Indeed, Ohtani is already in unprecedented territory.
Before this year, no player had ever had 43 of each in a single season. After Tuesday, when the Dodgers lost 11-9 to the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park, Ohtani is now at 48-48, snapping a (long for him) four-game homer drought with a second-deck blast in the top of the third inning.
The homer wasn’t enough to help the Dodgers overcome a shaky performance from the pitching staff
Bobby Miller gave up four runs in a shaky two-inning start, once again failing to command the baseball (only 38 of his 65 pitches were strikes) or put batters away (four of his seven hits allowed, plus his lone walk, came with two strikes) as his ERA rose to 8.52.
Michael Grove was charged with three runs in a 1 ⅔ inning relief appearance, while Ryan Brasier and Daniel Hudson yielded two more a piece in the sixth and eighth innings, respectively.
The Dodgers (89-62) were close to coming back against the last-place Marlins (56-95) a couple of times.
Ohtani’s home run sparked a tying four-run outburst in the third, the fifth time in the last 10 games the Dodgers have scored at least four runs in an inning.
Miguel Rojas knotted the score at 5-5 with a home run in the fourth, before the Marlins scored twice off Grove in the following half-inning to take the lead for good.
Ohtani had one last chance to tip the scales in the sixth, coming to the plate with runners on the corners in a one-run game. However, he struck out on three pitches to retire the side, one of three times he went down on strikes in what finished as a one-for-five performance.
In Dodger land, the only number that mattered in the wake of Tuesday’s loss was three –– the number of games they are currently leading the San Diego Padres (who had yet to finish play Tuesday night) in the National League West.
To the rest of the baseball world, Ohtani’s 402-foot, upper-deck blast was the biggest story, moving him another step closer to 50-50 history.
With 11 games to go this season, Ohtani now needs just two more long balls and stolen bases to achieve the once unthinkable milestone. For reference, he hasn’t had an 11-game stretch with fewer than two stolen bases since June 20-July 3, and hasn’t had an 11-game stretch with fewer than two home runs since May 21-June 4.
Fifty-fifty, of course, is no guarantee yet.
But at this point, the bigger surprise would be if Ohtani somehow doesn’t reach it.
Gonsolin ‘conversation’ nearing
Entering the year, the Dodgers weren’t anticipating Tony Gonsolin returning this season from Tommy John surgery.
But with Gonsolin continuing to make progress in his recovery, and the Dodgers in desperate need of whatever pitching help they can get before October, the right-hander might be an option after all.
Roberts announced Tuesday that Gonsolin will make his third minor-league rehab start with triple-A Oklahoma City this weekend, an outing in which the club hopes Gonsolin can complete four innings.
If that goes well, Roberts said, the Dodgers could have a “conversation” about activating Gonsolin before the end of the regular season — leaving the door open for him to either start games or pitch bulk innings out of the bullpen down the stretch and, potentially, into the postseason.
Roberts acknowledged that Gonsolin remains a “longer shot” to shoulder any significant load. As recently as a few weeks ago, he said Gonsolin joining the team would only happen under a “crazy scenario.”
But the Dodgers’ current situation would certainly qualify. They have already lost Tyler Glasnow for the season, are unlikely to get Gavin Stone back from a shoulder injury and remain uncertain of Clayton Kershaw’s status as he battles a toe injury.
“It’s still a longer shot, but I’m really impressed that Tony has taken this really seriously as a potential opportunity,” Roberts said of Gonsolin, the 2022 All-Star who underwent Tommy John surgery last August. “He’s gonna take another [rehab start], and we’ll see from there.”