Ben Casparius News: Pitching behind Ohtani again

Casparius is scheduled to pitch in bulk relief behind starter Shohei Ohtani in Saturday's game in Kansas City, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Ohtani will make his third start as a pitcher Saturday, but the Dodgers have been managing the two-way star's workload carefully coming off his September 2023 Tommy John surgery. The right-hander has covered exactly one inning in both of his prior two starts, with Casparius working behind him on both occasions. Between those outings, Casparius has picked up a pair of wins while allowing five earned runs on eight hits and two walks over 8.2 innings. The Dodgers haven't specified how long Ohtani will work Sunday, but assuming he doesn't cover more than two or three innings, Casparius will still be well positioned to earn a win if the Dodgers are able to defeat the Royals. Ohtani is expected to eventually be ready to handle a traditional starter's workload, but he and Casparius seem likely to work in tandem for at least a couple more turns through the rotation.