Dodgers weekly: Shohei Ohtani benefiting from pitch-clock caveat

Welcome to The California Post’s weekly Dodgers main recap, where baseball writers Dylan Hernández and Jack Harris review the week that was –– publishing every Thursday.

TORONTO –– What became a controversial subplot in Game 7 of the World Series last fall has reemerged as a recurring storyline in this season’s early weeks.

For virtually every other pitcher in Major League Baseball, the rules about warming up for an inning are simple: A two-minute timer begins with the conclusion of the previous half-inning. If they’re not ready to face the leadoff batter by then, they risk incurring an automatic ball via pitch-clock violation.

For Shohei Ohtani, however, there is one loophole only he can really exploit.

As stated on the league’s website: “If the pitcher is on base, on deck or at-bat when the (previous) inning ends, the timer begins when the pitcher leaves the dugout for the mound.”

That modification, of course, wasn’t created explicitly for the Dodgers’ two-way star. In rare situations, a handful of pitchers still get at-bats each season.

Still, given there’s only one pitcher who hits full time in the majors anymore, it might as well be called the Ohtani Caveat.

“If you’re on the other side, you’re trying to rush him as much as possible and treat him like any other pitcher,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But the truth is, he’s different.”

Thus, don’t expect his routine to change soon.

Just like in Game 7 last year –– when he took his sweet time getting to the mound between innings, frustrating Blue Jays players and coaches wondering why he was granted so much leeway –– Ohtani has capitalized upon the carve-out during his first two pitching starts this season.

If he was at-bat, on base or on deck the previous half-inning, the clock has automatically been reset to two minutes once he reemerges from the dugout. Even if it takes most of the original two minutes for him to get out there.

On both occasions, the dynamic did not seem to go unnoticed by Dodgers opponents. Last week, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt came out to talk to an umpire the first time the clock was reset for Ohtani. On Wednesday, in Ohtani’s return to Rogers Centre to face the Blue Jays, it was veteran slugger George Springer who seemed to check with the crew about Ohtani’s added warm-up time.