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Dodgers Hand Skubal the Ball for Game 1, but Ohtani Still Hurting

Tarik Skubal gets the NLDS opener against the Braves as Shohei Ohtani concedes he won't be at full strength this October.

By City of Angels ·
Retro 8-bit illustration: a ballpark nestled in green hills with tall palm trees beyond the outfield (AI-generated illustration)
AI-generated illustration

The depth chart is set, and it tells you exactly how L.A. feels about this rotation. The Dodgers have committed to Tarik Skubal as the Game 1 starter in the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, while Atlanta was still sorting through its own options, per ESPN. That's not a small call. When you hand a guy the ball first in a series like that, you're telling the room: this is our man, go set the tone. Good teams don't dance around that decision. The Dodgers didn't.

Now the part that should worry you some. Shohei Ohtani came out and admitted the left knee and right biceps trouble that dogged him all summer isn't going away — he's just going to have to play through it in October, per ESPN. I've coached enough banged-up kids to know that playing through it is coach-speak for it still hurts. You don't bench a player like that, but you game-plan around him. Watch how they use him early in the series. If they're easing him in, that tells you something.

Here's the thing about this team: even hurting, even without total clarity up and down that rotation, the Dodgers are still being tabbed as World Series favorites heading into the postseason, per ESPN. That's a credit to the roster they built. Favorites get no style points, though. They have to go win the thing.

One more wrinkle worth flagging for later: there's already chatter about what kind of contract Skubal could land on the open market, with insiders around the sport sizing up his free agency, per ESPN. Translate that from front-office speak: the guy they're trusting with the ball in Game 1 may not be back in a Dodgers uniform next year. That's all the more reason this postseason matters right now, while he's still wearing the blue.

Bottom line: this is a team playing like it knows the clock might be running on this group. Favorites, banged up, and maybe watching their ace for one last ride. No time for a slow start Saturday.

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