For the first time in over a year, Shohei Ohtani is out of the leadoff spot.
The defending NL MVP will bat in the two-hole for the Dodgers in Sunday’s game against the Brewers. It’s the first game that Ohtani has played without hitting leadoff since June 16, 2024.
Mookie Betts — held out of the starting lineup on Saturday to reset — took Ohtani’s spot atop the batting order. Earlier this season, when Ohtani missed two games while on the paternity list, Tommy Edman filled in as the leadoff hitter.
Betts is hitting just .241 with a .688 OPS amid a season-long slump. On Saturday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that he anticipated Betts would stay in the two-hole upon returning to the lineup, though he wasn’t sure when that would be.
“If I felt a change, a different look in the lineup would help performance, I would do it,” Roberts said. “I would be all in.”
Ohtani went 2-for-5 with his 33rd home run of the season in the Dodgers’ loss on Saturday night. It marked just his second multi-hit game in his last 16 contests. Since June 1, he is hitting .240 with an .868 OPS.
Still, thanks to Ohtani, the Dodgers have enjoyed tremendous success out of the leadoff spot: Their leadoff hitters have combined for a .991 OPS this season, the highest in the Majors by a significant margin.
Last season, Ohtani hit .314 with a .989 OPS in 69 games out of the two-hole. Betts was the leadoff hitter in that June 16, 2024, game, Ohtani’s previous time batting second.
