Considering His Rule, Dodgers to Start Ohtani on the Mound

The rule enacted to put Shohei Ohtani in front of fans as often as possible proved a complication in the Dodgers' decision on a starting pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series. Baseball logic would suggest Los Angeles start Tyler Glasnow, who would be pitching on his usual four days of rest—with the exception of a three-pitch emergency appearance on Friday night. But that would carry a risk to the Dodgers' star pitcher-hitter, the Wall Street Journal reports. If Ohtani came in as a relief pitcher and then left the mound, he could no longer bat. The "Ohtani Rule," which lets him do both jobs without penalty, only applies to the starting pitcher. That's what he'll be on Saturday night for the deciding game against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Dodgers announced hours before gametime.

Ohtani will be pitching on three days' rest for just the second time in his MLB career, after allowing four runs on six hits on Tuesday in Game 4. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, acknowledging the legal situation, indicated that Ohtani will be treated as sort of an opening act, with many relief pitchers available, per Yahoo Sports. Max Scherzer, who started 2019's Game 7, will pitch for the home team. That will make three-time Cy Young winner just the fourth pitcher in MLB history to start more than one decisive Game 7, per the AP. Bob Gibson, with three such starts, and Lew Burdette and Don Larsen, with two, are the others.

• Game 7 could make Ohtani to baseball what Tom Brady is to football, Dylan Hernández writes in the Los Angeles Times. All he has to do is get the victory and hit a home run or two. The column can be found here.