by Cary Osborne
When Mookie Betts joined the Fox postgame show after Game 6 and the possibility of Shohei Ohtani starting Game 7 of the World Series came up, the Dodger shortstop called it destiny.
“How could you draw it up any different?” Betts said. “I feel like this is the perfect moment for him. He was made for this moment.”
Ohtani is indeed the Dodger starting pitcher in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series — just like he was when the Dodgers had the opportunity to clinch the National League Championship Series in Game 4.
The Dodgers did clinch, and he hit three home runs and struck out 10 batters over six scoreless innings.
A lot of comparisons to this Game 7 World Series opportunity have been made with the 2023 World Baseball Classic final when Ohtani entered the game in the ninth inning and struck out Mike Trout on a full count to win the game.
The degree of difficulty might be higher tonight in the deciding game of the World Series. Ohtani has pitched on three days’ rest once in his career — in April 2023. Ohtani pitched two shutout innings against the Red Sox on April 17, 2023 and pitched seven shutout innings against the Royals four days later.
That was before a second right elbow surgery.
Ohtani had at least five days’ rest between every start this season — regular season and postseason. He has pitched three times in the postseason — on 10, 12 and 10 days’ rest.
That makes tonight more of an unknown.
How long Ohtani will go tonight has not been divulged.
“As far as innings, not sure,” said manager Dave Roberts. “It depends how he comes out, how he looks, how he’s throwing, how he’s feeling. So I just kind of want to withhold kind of expectation and kind of read and react.”
There is one expectation.
“I expect him to show well,” Roberts said. “I just don’t know how long, but we got to wait and see how it looks, and then if he’s rolling, he’s going to keep pitching.”
But with Dave Roberts saying everyone is available, the Dodgers could deploy Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell. Glasnow seems likely, after throwing three pitches in Game 6. Snell is on two days’ rest after throwing 116 pitches in Game 5.
Roberts said Game 6 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, after throwing 96 pitches in Friday’s Game 6, “is definitely interested” in pitching if the need arises.
It’s likely Ohtani won’t be asked to shoulder the load like he did in Game 4 when he pitched into the seventh inning. He allowed four runs in that game, but his two bequeathed runners scored in the seventh inning, staining an otherwise effective outing. Coming into the seventh inning, Ohtani allowed two runs on four hits over six innings.
That was Game 4. This is Game 7.
And there’s something about Shohei Ohtani and moments as a Dodger. And of course, he will be the only player on the field tonight who can impact the game as a pitcher and a batter. He doubled and homered off Blue Jays Game 7 starter Max Scherzer in Game 3 in two plate appearances, and he is 4-for-5 against the future Hall of Famer this year.
2025 World Series: The degree of difficulty rises for the incredible Ohtani was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.