Ohtani has allowed seven earned runs over his last two starts, causing his ERA to nearly double


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Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani entered his Wednesday (pitching) start against the Rays with concerns about his balky left knee. He left that start with concerns about a blister on his pitching hand.

The Dodgers wound up notching the comeback 5-4 win to complete the three-game sweep over the visiting Rays, but Ohtani endured his worst start of the season thus far, at least from a run-prevention standpoint.

This comes off his previous start in which he allowed four runs, three earned, against the Pirates on June 10. As a result, Ohtani has seen his ERA rise from 0.74 prior to the start against Pittsburgh to 1.47 after Wednesday's start. Even though Ohtani's ERA has roughly doubled over that span, it's still the second-lowest in the majors among pitchers who have worked at least 50 innings this season. Only Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, at 1.34, has a lower mark.

Against the Rays, Ohtani's stuff looked crisp, and he opened the game with four scoreless innings. In the fifth, however, the blister on his right middle finger, which has been an issue since early May, opened up and noticeably affected the quality of his pitches:

Probably because of that blister, here's how the top of the fifth unfolded with Ohtani on the mound:

o Walk
o Double
o Sac fly
o Single
o Single
o Single
o Ground-out
o Single
o Ground-out (bunt)

Ohtani was able to complete the frame, but not before a 2-0 Dodgers lead had turned into a 4-2 Rays advantage. In what may be an encouraging sign, at least for Ohtani's knee, manager Dave Roberts called upon Ohtani to pinch-hit in the home half of the fifth. Batting in place of designated hitter Miguel Rojas, Ohtani grounded out on the first pitch he saw. The Dodgers lost the DH for the remainder of the game, but Roberts deemed it worth a shot given Ohtani's power. Perhaps more encouraging is that Ohtani, even after his blister problems in the fifth, came out for the sixth and retired the side in order with a strikeout. At that point, his day was done after 91 pitches.

Speaking of the knee, Ohtani was removed from last Thursday's game against the Pirates with inflammation following a stolen base attempt. However, as MLB.com notes, Ohtani himself has attributed the knee problem to an issue with his pitching mechanics. He has been able to DH in recent days, and the Dodgers have repeatedly indicated that the knee soreness is not a major concern.

As for his fifth-inning mound struggles on Wednesday, Roberts indicated post-game that Ohtani was still "working through some delivery stuff with the knee," but mostly it appeared to be a blister issue.

Even so, Ohtani downplayed the effects of the blister in his post-game remarks. "Just part of the game," Ohtani said of his knee and blister problems through an interpreter after Wednesday's contest. "There's not a lot of situations where you feel 100%, so I just took it as that, and it's big that we were able to win a game like this."

Ohtani also dismissed concerns about the blister affecting his performance following the start in Pittsburgh.

Asked post-game whether extra rest between starts might be a consideration for Ohtani, manager Dave Roberts said "potentially" that would be an option in the future. However, Roberts also said, "So I feel good that right now I don't see why he won't make his next start (as scheduled)."

That next start, assuming Ohtani remains on schedule, would likely come against the Twins on Wednesday.

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