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The Dodgers are planning to use Shohei Ohtani as a starting pitcher in the playoffs, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman confirmed Monday.

That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t certain scenarios in which he could also come out of the bullpen, as well.

“Things play out in October that you can’t foresee,” Friedman said before Monday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies — shortly after, coincidentally, catching up with new Phillies signing and ex-Dodgers favorite Walker Buehler, who made three starts in the Dodgers’ rotation last postseason before emerging for a title-clinching save in Game 5 of the Fall Classic.

“Walker Buehler was a starting pitcher for us last year, and finished out Game 5 of the World Series,” Friedman noted. “So you never know how things are going to play out.”

Read more:Q&A: Here’s what’s at stake for the Dodgers over the final two weeks

The possibility of Ohtani pitching in relief has been percolating for the last several weeks. Pitching coach Mark Prior said he could “absolutely” envision it during an appearance on the "Dan Patrick Show" last month. Manager Dave Roberts has more recently reiterated that the conversation regarding Ohtani’s postseason pitching role remains open as the regular season winds down.

“Could it change down the road in the postseason? Possibly,” Roberts said Sunday when pressed on the topic again. “But right now we see him as a starter.”

Friedman largely echoed that sentiment Monday, a day before Ohtani was set for his next scheduled start in a pivotal series against the Phillies (who entered this week’s visit to Dodger Stadium 4 ½ games ahead of the Dodgers for the No. 2 seed in the National League standings, and the first-round bye that comes with it).

Friedman praised Ohtani, who has returned from a second-career Tommy John surgery this year with a 3.75 ERA and 49 strikeouts over 36 innings, as “one of the best starters in the National League.”

He said the team’s expectation is that the right-hander “will impact us as a starting pitcher” in the playoffs — even though Ohtani might not pitch much past the fifth inning of games (the limit he has been held to in his recent regular season starts) and won’t be asked to make consecutive starts on normal four days of rest (he has gotten at least five days off between each of his outings this year).

“No one is taking on more than [he is with the] pitching and also hitting and running the bases,” Friedman said. “So just trying to be cognizant of that.”

However, pitching out of the bullpen in some specific, late-game situations could remain on the table.

Like Buehler last year, and Clayton Kershaw in many Octobers before that, a long postseason run would likely offer opportunities for the Dodgers to use Ohtani as a reliever in the days between his starts — perhaps in potential close-out games or on nights when the back end of the team’s struggling bullpen is low on other trustworthy options.

Read more:Hernández: How Shohei Ohtani drove himself to become a first-time World Series champion

Ohtani does have memorable personal experience in such a role, having recorded the final outs of Team Japan’s victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

When looking ahead to this postseason, Friedman did not close the door on that possibility either; even though he said his focus has remained on navigating the final two weeks of the regular season first.

“We’re expecting him to be a starter for us,” Friedman said, “and depending on everything else, we’ll figure out where to go from there.”

Of course, Ohtani’s two-way status would add extra complications to any potential bullpen plans.

There are logistical questions — like how he would warm up if his spot in the batting order comes up the inning before he’s supposed to take the mound.

And then there is a technical dilemma — with MLB’s two-way rules having been written in a way that, if Ohtani were to enter the game as a reliever, the Dodgers would lose him as a designated hitter once he exits the mound.

“Once you fire him … and you decide to come out of it, you have to take that cost of losing the DH and losing him as a hitter,” Roberts said. “You got to be willing to take the chance.”

That reality might restrict Ohtani to pitching only out of the bullpen in the ninth inning of games, and could make the Dodgers more hesitant to use Ohtani in relief at all for fear of what would happen if a game extended past the end of his outing.

"I think they missed the mark with it,” Friedman said when asked if he was frustrated by the language of the two-way rule; which was enacted by MLB several years ago in response to Ohtani’s emergence as a two-way star, but only allows him to remain in the game as a hitter after he exits pitching starts, specifically.

“I think the rule was put in place to try to encourage people to do it, to incentivize people," Friedman said. "So yeah, I think they missed.”

Friedman noted he’d liked to see the rule eventually changed to also include relief appearances, but acknowledged “that's more of an offseason, future thing.”

“Obviously,” he added, “it's not reasonable for us to ask for that in-season.”

Read more:'Really impressed.' Shohei Ohtani's return to two-way role going (mostly) well a month in

Thus, for now, the Dodgers will continue to weigh the complex pros and cons of how to use Ohtani’s arm once they reach October.

His current weekly pitching schedule has Ohtani lined up to throw in Game 1 of a potential wild card series, which will begin exactly two weeks from his Tuesday night start against the Phillies (though Friedman insisted that wasn’t intentional).

Whether his services are needed, even in narrowly conceivable circumstances, out of the bullpen beyond that remains to be seen — with the Dodgers continuing to leave that possibility open for now.

“I think so much of it is, when does he start? What’s that time off in-between? How lined up are our other starters?” Friedman said.

“Until we know that, it's hard to get too much into it."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Yankees couldn't take advantage of inferior competition on Monday night, as their offense went astonishingly cold in an ill-timed 7-0 loss to the Twins at Target Field.

Here are the takeaways...

-- While the Yankees insisted pregame that Anthony Volpe was healthy enough to serve as a full-time player, they once again turned to the hot hand in utilityman Jose Caballero, who ironically made a pair of defensive miscues in the third inning. After a leadoff double, he struggled to handle a sharp short-hop grounder that produced an infield single. Then, with runners on the corners and one out, Caballero took too much time to flip a ball to Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base on what appeared to be a routine double play. The fielder's choice groundout allowed the Twins to take an early 1-0 lead.

-- Simeon Woods Richardson entered Tuesday with a bloated 4.58 ERA, but it didn't seem as if the Yankees even knew that the Twins' starter was vulnerable. They were simply caught off-balance by the right-hander's slider-splitter pitch mix, as he delivered a career-high nine strikeouts through five innings while allowing a pair of hits and walks. Caballero logged one of those knocks -- a one-out double in the fifth -- but he was regrettably picked off trying to steal third, moments later. Woods Richardson added two more punchouts in the sixth, finishing with a stunning 11 on 92 total pitches.

-- The lack of run support forced Carlos Rodón to work from behind, but the veteran left-hander still managed to grind through a quality outing. He struck out four across six solid innings (95 pitches), limiting the Twins to two runs on five hits and one walk. His biggest mistake came in the fifth, when he gave up a leadoff homer to Brooks Lee that bumped the Twins' lead to 2-0. Rodón has now allowed two or fewer runs in eight straight starts. His season ERA now sits at a solid 3.11 (182.1 total innings).

-- Luke Weaver took over for Rodón in the seventh, and for the fourth time in September, the right-hander grappled with command. He served up a leadoff pinch-hit double to Trevor Larnach, who proceeded to score two pitches later on a double to right from Lee. Weaver then loaded the bases via walks, and just when another pitching change seemed warranted, he allowed a bases-clearing double to Austin Martin that pushed the Twins' lead to 6-0. Camilo Doval took over from there, giving up a stolen base and an RBI single to Luke Keaschall. It was a huge five-run seventh for the Twins.

-- The Yankees' luck at the plate didn't change after Woods Richardson left, as three Twins relievers combined to record another three strikeouts over three scoreless frames. Cody Bellinger (2), Giancarlo Stanton (4), Ryan McMahon (2), and Chisholm (2) were responsible for more than two-thirds of the punchouts, and it was the Yankees' ninth shutout loss this season.

-- Ben Rice entered as a pinch hitter for Caballero in the top of the eighth -- he struck out on six pitches. In the bottom half, Rice moved to catcher as the replacement for Austin Wells,and Volpe took over at shortstop. The swap wasn't blemish-free, as Rice failed to corral a popup along the netting behind home plate.

Game MVP: Brooks Lee

Minnesota's shortstop raised his season RBI total from 58 to 60 with the solo shot and double. Those hits alone provided them enough cushion.

What's next

The Yankees (83-67) will continue their three-game series in Minnesota on Tuesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:40 p.m.

RHP Cam Schlittler (3-3, 3.05 ERA) is slated to take the mound, opposite RHP Zebby Matthews (4-5, 5.06 ERA).

Phillies clinch NL East with thrilling extra-inning victory over Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

LOS ANGELES — After getting plastered by the Royals Sunday in a game where the Phillies could have clinched the NL East with a win, the team had to sit for hours on a broken down plane until another arrived, fly cross country and then wait until the seventh inning to get their second hit of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But it was all worth it as the Phillies recorded a thrilling come-from-behind extra-inning win to secure the division. A sacrifice fly from J.T. Realmuto scored Harrison Bader after the later innings of the game saw a go-ahead home run by Bryce Harper in the eighth and an uncharacteristic blown save by Jhoan Duran in the ninth.

“Being down early like we were, we had one hit until the seventh inning, they’re just tough, they’re resilient,” said manager Rob Thomson. “I’m proud of them, I really am. This is a really special group.”

“We don’t have Wheels (Zack Wheeler) but we have a deep rotation,” said Thomson. “Deeper than we’ve had in the past, I think. The additions of Duran, he’s a guy that’s going to shut down a game. You can pretty much book it. The addition of David Robertson. Those guys have really helped this club. I think we’re a little bit different than we were in the past and I think we can do some things. We’re going to slug but we can also play some small ball to win games, too. It’s a good balance.”

The Phillies found out they clinched a playoff spot Sunday while sitting on the busted plane, but there was no celebrating that. Rob Thomson and his team wanted to wait until a real celebration could be done. The wait was well worth it, it seemed, as Harper pumped his fists and clapped his way around the bases after his go-ahead homer.

“We’re a really good team and I think we’re playing really good baseball right now,” said Harper. “We’ve got a bigger picture and things on our mind that we want to win in playing in October and into November. Every team we’ve had the last couple of years have been really good. Just hasn’t happened, hasn’t finished with a win. We have to understand that we’re a really good team and ebbs and flows of a season, obviously, but we’ve got a really good team.”

But Andy Pages prolonged the game with his home run to left off Duran that sent the game to extra innings. With Harrison Bader on second with one out in the 10th, the Dodgers intentionally walked Harper. He and Bader then pulled off a double steal and Bader scored on Realmuto’s fly ball to right.

David Robertson worked out of a bases loaded jam in the 10th with one out to close out the game and trigger the on-field celebration.

“That’s a tough situation,” said Robertson. “They have a really good lineup and trying to finagle your way around that. I just tried to be smart. Me and J.T. took a few minutes to try and talk some things over. Every call was his and every call was right. I tried to give it to him as best I could on every pitch and fortunately we were able to sneak out of that inning without giving up a run.”

Kyle Schwarber, who turned his No. 12 around to 21 in honor of Roberto Clemente Day, reached out and poked a first-inning home run, his 53rd of the season, to right-center off Dodgers opener Anthony Banda to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. It seemed to be a good start for the Phillies, but it turned out it was the only hit they would get in the first six innings as Emmet Sheehan was spectacular.

The Phillies were able to tag relievers Jack Dreyer and Alex Vesia for three runs in two innings to complete another memorable game for them at Dodgers Stadium.

The Phillies’ second hit of the night led off the seventh inning — a double by Otto Kemp to left. He scored on a Bryson Stott single before Weston Wilson then hit a no-doubter to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead. But that was short-lived.

Mookie Betts homered off Orion Kerkering in the seventh to tie the game. Harper answered big time with his 27th homer of the season to center, setting off his mini celebration.

A bigger one awaited in the Phillies clubhouse after the game.

Matt Strahm pitched a perfect eighth inning before closer Jhoan Duran gave up a home run to Andy Pages in the ninth as the Dodgers tied the game at 5-5.

Phillies starter Ranger Suarez entered the game having allowed just three earned runs over 30 2/3 innings in his last five starts. He was good against the Dodgers but it’s hard to maintain the level of excellence he’s held over the past month.

Suarez finished his start after six innings and allowed seven hits, three runs and struck out five.

The Phillies now trail the Milwaukee Brewers, who were idle on Monday, by 1.5 games for the best record in the National League for the top seed in the playoffs.

“It’s always different, it’s a different road each time,” said Stott. “Different team and different guys. It’s always a blessing. The group of guys we have is great and every day to come to the field is a blessing. I don’t take myself too seriously and I just want to go out and win.”

They have done that 90 times this season against 61 losses. If they have played better baseball during this long season than they have over the past 15 games or so, it’s hard to find.

“The last four years have been the most fun I’ve had in baseball in my forty years in baseball,” said Thomson. “And I tell you that truthfully. It’s because of the guys. Being in charge isn’t that much fun sometimes, but being with these guys, it’s been a lot of fun because you see them fight and see them work. They have a lot of fun. I don’t feel 62. This has been fabulous.”

“I feel like this never gets old,” said Brandon Marsh. “To be on top of this division, one of the best in all of baseball if not the best, it’s a blessing to be where we’re at. We’ve got more work to do.

“We preserver, we fight to the last out. Kyle got us going early and then we went dead a little bit and we got back up. Ranger pitched phenomenal. I loved the Orion attacked them. Drob closing it out. You can’t really ask for anything else. It’s a really fun group of guys, we love each other, we’re all united. It’s a special group.”

Momentum from Bryce Eldridge's awaited MLB debut can't inspire slumping Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The momentum from Bryce Eldridge’s highly anticipated MLB debut wasn’t enough to lift the Giants past the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night at Chase Field. 

Instead, the Giants took another stumble in the NL wild-card race, succumbing to a series-opening 8-1 loss in Arizona. 

Eldridge, despite going hitless in his first game in The Show, was one of the few standouts on Monday.

The 20-year-old, who joined San Francisco greats Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain in the organization’s history book for youngest debuts, backed the hype, especially when going up against Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen in his first major league at-bat.

“It was fun. I think that was a good start, facing a guy like him,” Eldridge told reporters after his debut. “I had fun. 

“He had a good plan against me. It was fun to face him. I felt like I belonged. I felt like I competed and did my best.”

Less than 48 hours ago, Eldridge, selected with the 16th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, had zero clue he would be getting an major league call-up.

Fast forward to Monday night, and Eldridge revealed that he had more than 25 loved ones rooting him on at Chase Field as he put together an 0-for-3 performance, including an eye-catching flyout.

This Eldridge flyout would have been a homer in 23 other ballparks 😫 pic.twitter.com/6B5DVKq4gU

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 16, 2025

When asked about Eldridge’s awaited debut, manager Bob Melvin didn’t hesitate to validate why the slugger is one of San Francisco’s most promising power-hitting prospects in recent memory.

“He looks good up there. [He] had some good swings,” Melvin told reporters. “It’s too bad he didn’t get the one hit there, but he certainly didn’t look like he was overmatched, didn’t look like he was nervous.

“I’m sure there were some nerves there, but he looks pretty hitter-ish at the plate.” 

"He looks good up there."

Bob Melvin liked what he saw from Bryce Eldridge in his MLB debut 🙌 pic.twitter.com/dIKTzhYQEL

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 16, 2025

Now two games back of the New York Mets, and with persistent bullpen struggles at play, the Giants certainly will need Eldridge to be everything he has been promised to be. 

In the meantime, the organization’s No. 1 prospect at least got the debut nerves out of the way.

“I feel like just today, for the debut, there’s kind of like not pressure but some nerves,” Eldridge concluded.

Bryce Eldridge reflects on quickly overcoming his MLB debut nerves 💪 pic.twitter.com/y1QWb1dLrh

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 16, 2025

“[I was] working through that. Like I said, the first at-bat. After that, it felt like a normal game. I don’t focus on that. I focus on trying to hit the ball hard and do my job.”

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