Dodgers decides to give Shohei Ohtani break

The Los Angeles Dodgers have decided to give their struggling superstar Shohei Ohtani a two-day break as a hitter.

Ohtani ended an 11-game homerless streak in a 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday with an opposite-field solo shot to left-centre, his second home run in his last 24 games.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that after Tuesday’s game, Ohtani may have gained enough confidence to build on it.

“Relief, he smiled, he laughed,” Roberts said.

“He's going to feel good about the offensive side tonight to then refocus for tomorrow to pitch and now he's got something to build on come Friday.”

Ohtani played well compared to his teammates; he finished the game with 2 for 4, scoring two runs, an RBI and a walk. At the same time, others were 2 for 25 with four walks.

“I thought tonight was a really good night,” Roberts said. “He can hopefully take that momentum from tonight and then be building on that through Anaheim and San Diego.”

The Japanese hitter has hit seven homers this season and is batting .240.

Roberts believes that the rest will help Shohei Ohtani, who is trying to recover from a bad form as a hitter.

“I think it’s just more of, kind of thinking that it might just be a good thing to take a little bit of a load off his plate offensively,” Roberts said before Tuesday’s game.

“Letting his body recover a little bit, as far as (not) being a two-way player for a couple days. Playing more of the longer view, potentially giving him a reset on the offensive side.”