Dave Roberts Reveals How He Will Decide Where Shohei Ohtani Bats in Dodgers' Lineup

Roberts has a tough choice ahead of him this season.

The Dodgers' addition of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani brought about a lot of excitement. Ohtant is the best player in the game today and will give this team a major boost for the next decade.

He won't be pitching this season, but he will assume the role of the designated hitter for Los Angeles. This created the question of where Ohtani would hit in the order.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts joined The PosCast with Joe Posnanski & Michael Schur, and he discussed how he would build the Los Angeles lineup given all their star players at the top. Notably, the topic of Ohtani came into the picture regarding lineup structure.

“He’s not going to pitch this year coming off Tommy John, but he’s going to be DHing. I haven’t decided where he’s going to hit — 1, 2, or 3. Me, Mookie, Freddie and Shohei are going to get in a room, we’re going to talk about it. For me it’s more of, I want him to get assimilated with his teammates. I’m going to kind of sit back and pick my spots. The most important thing is for him to feel comfortable around his teammates.”

Per Dave Roberts via

 

The PosCast with Joe Posnanski & Michael Schur

Having to mix around Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman is a good problem to have. Roberts has a lot of talent to work with at his disposal, and any manager would love to be in his shoes.

Betts will likely lead off in the lineup, so it's really a decision of who bats first between Ohtani and Freeman. The Dodgers can't go wrong with either decision, but making Ohtani feel comfortable will be at the top of the list for Los Angeles.