Why are the Dodgers suspending starter Shohei Ohtani’s pitching in the NLCS?

milwaukee — Entering this week’s National League Championship Series, the Dodgers’ pitching plan seemed simple.

After Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow started the final two games of the team’s NL Division Series win over the Philadelphia Phillies, Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell were next in the order for Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.

All the Dodgers had to do was insert Snell into Game 1 on Monday, making him an option to pitch again on four days’ rest in Game 5. Then, they could have Ohtani pitch in Game 2 on Tuesday, allowing him to pitch before Wednesday’s scheduled out day (which was the team’s preference for the two-way star) and be available for another start if the Series returns to Milwaukee for Game 6 And 7.

But on Sunday, head coach Dave Roberts announced a different plan.

Snell will actually go into Game 1, trying to build on the 1.38 ERA he posted in his first two outings in the postseason.

But instead of Ohtani in Game 2, it will be Yamamoto who gets the ball — prompting Ohtani’s next appearance later in the series, Roberts said.

“We don’t know what day,” Roberts said of when Ohtani will get the ball. “But he’ll throw at some point.”

This fit came as a surprise, but it also had benefits from the Dodgers’ perspective.

Unlike Ohtani, who has taken at least six days off between each of his matches since the start of July, Yamamoto has routinely taken five days off this season. By starting him in Game 2, he can stay on the same schedule to pitch a potential Game 6 — something the Dodgers would have been less comfortable with if Ohtani had done.

By bringing Ohtani back for at least Game 3, of course, the Dodgers would be sacrificing their ability to make him two starts in this Series. However, even if he pitches in a Dodgers home game later this week, Ohtani could be out of the bullpen in a potential Game 7 — the kind of relief opportunity the team has hinted at for weeks down the stretch this season.

Since Ohtani will only make one start in the NLCS, Roberts said he doesn’t have to come in before an off day either.

“You have two other guys who can get regular rest,” Roberts said. “So [it’s about] How can you get your best pitchers to pitch the most innings in a potential seven-game series?

However, beyond promotional considerations, there is another reason that might also make sense for delaying Ohtani’s next outing.

In the NLDS, Ohtani went 1-for-18 at the plate with nine strikeouts. He looked particularly outlandish in Game 1, when he struck out four home runs in the first playoff game of his batting and pitching career.

Upon his exit from the series, Roberts emphasized Ohtani’s need to “recalibrate” at the plate, stating that the team “is not going to win a World Series with that kind of performance” from its biggest star.

And while Roberts insisted Sunday that Ohtani’s offensive decline has “no impact” on the team changing his rotation, giving Ohtani two games at the start of the NLCS to focus solely on hitting certainly won’t hurt his efforts to correct his swing.

“I expect a different way out of Shohei on the offensive end in this series,” Roberts said.

At least for the next two days, that would be his only goal.