It’s a World Series Game 7 — what more could baseball fans want? After staring elimination in the face in Game 6 and surviving, the Los Angeles Dodgers will look to win another game at the Rogers Centre on Saturday night, and according to The New York Post’s Joel Sherman, LA will be sending Shohei Ohtani to the mound as its starting pitcher on just three days’ rest.
Sherman’s report emerged just before midnight ET on Friday, so it is possible that the Dodgers will change their plan before the start of Game 7, but as of now — to all public knowledge — Ohtani will take the ball.
Sherman also pointed out a key reason why the Dodgers would want to start Ohtani, rather than bring him out of the bullpen. “Because Ohtani can remain in the game as the DH if he starts but not if he relieves and then is removed as a pitcher without going elsewhere in the field, starting him (has) always made the most sense for the Dodgers,” Sherman wrote.
Dave Roberts said in postgame interviews on Friday night that Ohtani will be capable of going anywhere between two and four innings. Roberts also said that literally every other pitcher on the Dodgers’ World Series roster not named Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be available for Game 7.
While the official starters have not been announced, all signs point to 41-year-old Max Scherzer taking the mound for the Blue Jays.
Ohtani is 2-1 with a 3.50 ERA in 18 innings pitched in the 2025 postseason thus far for LA. Mookie Betts said after Game 6 that Ohtani’s “life is set up” to land in these type of big moments, with Betts suggesting that Ohtani was born to be a big-time performer. Betts also pointed to Shohei pitching in the final game of the 2023 World Baseball Classic as further evidence.
No matter how Ohtani pitches, the Dodgers will need good performances from multiple other arms to repeat as World Series champions.
