Shohei Ohtani: Everything you need to know

Ohtani is not in the Dodgers' starting lineup as the designated hitter Wednesday as he takes the mound against the Giants. Per Sonja Chen of MLB.com, Ohtani will simply take the mound for Wednesday's game and will also be out of the lineup for Thursday's series finale, though he could be available as a pinch hitter. Although his batting stats this season have taken a noticeable hit, Ohtani continues to be one of the best pitchers in baseball, with the right-hander sporting a 0.97 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 42:9 K:BB across 37 innings this season.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani will be used only as a pitcher during Wednesday's game against the Giants, and the two-way star will remain out of the lineup for Thursday's series finale but will be available to pinch hit, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports. After Ohtani went 0-for-5 at the dish in Monday's 9-3 loss in the series opener, Roberts indicated that the four-time MVP would get a day off from hitting either Wednesday or Thursday. Though Ohtani broke out of an extended funk at the plate by going 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in Tuesday's 6-2 loss, Roberts won't deviate from his plan to rest the 31-year-old superstar during the Giants series. In fact, Ohtani now looks set to be out of the lineup for both of the final two games of the series, though he'll take his normal turn through the rotation Wednesday. While he hasn't lived up to his incredibly high standard as a hitter so far this season with a .797 OPS -- his lowest mark since the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign -- Ohtani is on his way to a career-best season as a pitcher. He'll head into his seventh start of the season having maintained a 0.97 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 42:9 K:BB in 37 innings.

Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk and a second run scored in Tuesday's 6-2 loss to the Giants. Ohtani was the only Dodger to log multiple hits in this contest. This ended a run of 11 games without a long ball for the superstar. He has just three multi-hit efforts -- and more notably, seven hitless games -- over his last 12 contests, going 9-for-47 (.191) in that span. Overall, he's batting .240 with a .797 OPS, seven homers, 17 RBI, 27 runs scored, seven doubles and five stolen bases across 42 games as a hitter this season. Ohtani is scheduled to pitch Wednesday, but he will be getting a day off from hitting either Wednesday or Thursday, so fantasy managers will want to keep an eye on the Dodgers' lineup cards in the coming days.