Straight Talk: One way or another, pitcher Ohtani, Dodgers top Mets

Ohtani: I was a little surprised. But for the team, I think it was probably the best approach. He said he wanted me to concentrate on pitching after being hit by a pitch, so I just put my focus on that.

**Q:**How different is it physically, going through a game just as a pitcher instead of as a two-way player, specifically pitching without hitting?

Ohtani: The time between innings feels longer and it was kind of weird for me. But it was also good because I was able to focus well.

Q: What did you do with that time to stay loose? Did you have to do more?

Ohtani: I had more time than I usually do to think about going up against batters, so it gave me some valuable time.

Q: Your fastball seemed to have a lot of life today, are you happy with it?

Ohtani: Well, after I gave up that run, I put a little more effort into things, but overall, I was able to relax and just throw so it was progress from my last outing.

Q: Your four fastest fastballs came right after they scored that run. Are you usually cognizant, going into these starts, about maybe saving a little something extra for when you get into trouble?

Ohtani: Well, you can’t pitch over the course of a season and throw 100 pitches at max effort, so you look at the scoreboard, to some degree. In that situation, it was runners on second and third and one hit could’ve put them in the lead, so I needed to go all out to hold them down in that instance.

Q: Shohei, you said in your last start that you felt some fatigue. Do you feel the way the Dodgers are using you, your schedule, is allowing you to fix that?

Ohtani: Well, yes. Like today, just focusing on pitching and (Dalton) Rushing getting in there – it’s before a four-game series against Colorado (the Rockies) and that’s part of the plan to avoid fatigue, and that’s important for team. So understanding that and just focusing on that, I think we can all be healthy throughout the year and do our best.

Q: I know you said it made sense today, but if Doc said this is something he wants to incorporate, would you be OK with that? How would you feel about that?

Ohtani: Well, everyone saw it, we have another great DH here, so I’ll leave things in his hands.