The Los Angeles Dodgers did everything they reasonably could to win Game 6 of the World Series and keep their season alive. This included letting Roki Sasaki throw more than 30 pitches and using Tyler Glasnow, their projected Game 7 starter, in relief. That all-in strategy worked out, as the Dodgers were able to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays and force a winner-take-all Game 7, but with how their pitching is lined up, the question of who is going to pitch on Saturday must be asked.
The Dodgers will have just about everyone available for the final game of the year, obviously, but how far can their pitchers go? Who should Dave Roberts turn to? The Dodgers have leaned heavily on their starters all postseason, but how much can they conceivably pitch in Game 7? Here's what we can expect.
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Dodgers have no choice but to start Shohei Ohtani on the mound
The Dodgers have not officially named a Game 7 starter, but Joel Sherman of the NY Post reported that their plan is to start Shohei Ohtani. This is, very clearly, the right decision.
The Dodgers’ current plan is to start Shohei Ohtani on short rest in Game 7.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) November 1, 2025
The Ohtani Rule allows the Dodgers to start Ohtani on the mound and also use him as their DH even when he's pulled from the game. What the Ohtani Rule does not allow is for Los Angeles to start him at DH, use him in relief, then keep him at DH after he's pulled. Because of how valuable his bat is, if the Dodgers plan on using him as a pitcher at all on three days' rest, the path that makes the most sense is to use him as a starter, so his bat can stay in the game no matter what, even if using Ohtani as a closer sounds appealing.
When it comes to how much Ohtani and other Dodgers starters can throw, though, that remains to be seen.
How much can the Dodgers get from Shohei Ohtani and other starters?
Here's a look at when each of the Dodgers' starters last pitched and how many pitches they threw.
Dodgers Starter | Last Pitched | No. of Pitches |
|---|---|---|
Shohei Ohtani | Tuesday, Oct. 28 (Game 4) | 93 |
Blake Snell | Wednesday, Oct. 29 (Game 5) | 116 |
Tyler Glasnow | Friday, Oct. 31 (Game 6) | 3 |
Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Friday, Oct. 31 (Game 6) | 96 |
Ohtani is the most rested of these Dodgers starters, but he's also coming off major elbow surgery and will be pitching on three days' rest. Sure, many pitchers end up working on short rest during the postseason, but not only is Ohtani fresh off a major procedure, but he's used to pitching on five days' rest. He should be able to go a couple of innings at least, but who knows what to expect beyond that?
Blake Snell has the most postseason experience of anyone in this rotation, but he hasn't ever gone beyond 1.1 innings on short rest in October before, and the only time he's pitched on short rest in the postseason came in 2019. Can he really go beyond an inning on just two days' rest, especially after throwing 116 pitches in Game 5?
Tyler Glasnow only threw three pitches on Friday, which undoubtedly helps, but the fact that he pitched in Game 6 at all makes it clear that he'll be limited on Saturday. He was able to throw 2.1 innings on two days of rest in 2020, so perhaps Glasnow can go two or three innings on Saturday, but anything beyond that without a single day of rest feels like a stretch.
As for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, while Dodgers fans would obviously love to see him pitch, I'm not sure how realistic that is. Dave Roberts said everyone other than Yamamoto is available. While we saw Yamamoto suddenly become available after previously being deemed unavailable in Game 3, he was able to get a day of rest in that spot. Perhaps Roberts feels pressure to use him, knowing how dominant he's been, but I wouldn't be so positive. Yamamoto will say he's ready to go, but whether Roberts feels the same way will be. storyline to follow.
Every pitcher except for Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be available tomorrow in Game 7, manager Dave Roberts said.
— Dylan Hernández (@dylanohernandez) November 1, 2025
Say the Dodgers get three innings from Ohtani, one from Snell, two from Glasnow, and even one from Yamamoto. That only gets them to seven innings. This will force the Dodgers to use more of their bullpen than fans would like.
Dodgers will likely have to use more relievers than fans will want
Roki Sasaki is the only Dodgers reliever fans trust at all at this point, but even his availability is in question. He'll probably be available for an inning, but he threw 33 pitches in Game 6 and started a second inning of relief. He's still inexperienced as a reliever and has worked on back-to-back days just once in his career. The odds of the Dodgers asking Sasaki to give them more than an inning on a second straight day after he threw over 30 pitches (and was shaky) are slim.
In all likelihood, Sasaki won't be the only Dodgers reliever to appear in this game. Who Roberts turns to beyond Sasaki could dictate how this game goes for Los Angeles.
Might he turn to Justin Wrobleski on a second straight night? Wrobleski was one of the Dodgers' unlikely heroes in Game 6, perhaps he can come up big again. Could Emmet Sheehan be in play? Sheehan has had a rough postseason, but came up big in Game 3 with 2.2 scoreless innings.
What the Dodgers should not do is turn to Blake Treinen or Anthony Banda under almost any circumstance. Those two relievers have combined to allow seven runs on 11 hits in just 4.2 innings of work in this series.
Potential Dodgers' Game 7 pitching plan
Dodgers Pitcher | Innings |
|---|---|
Shohei Ohtani | 3 |
Blake Snell | 1 |
Tyler Glasnow | 2 |
Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 1 |
Roki Sasaki | 1 |
Emmet Sheehan/Justin Wrobleski | 1 |
This is nothing more than a very rough draft of what Dodgers fans can hope for on Saturday. If Shohei Ohtani can pitch one time through the order on short rest, fans should be ecstatic. Getting anything from Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto after they threw a ton of pitches in Games 5 and 6, respectively, feels like a major win. Dodgers fans hope not to have to see either Sheehan or Wrobleski in this game, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.
The Dodgers can have Ohtani start, use Glasnow to get through the middle innings, use Sheehan and/or Wrobleski to get out of jams, and finish the game with the trio of Snell, Yamamoto, and Sasaki.
On paper, this plan sounds like a good one. The pitchers the Dodgers will plan to throw are extremely high-quality for the most part. The fact that they're all pitching on short or no rest, though, cannot be ignored. Who really knows what kind of version we're going to get of all of these guys?
Honestly, what Dodgers fans really want is for their lineup, which happens to be littered with star power everywhere you turn, to finally have a huge game. The pitching has carried the Dodgers to this point. Having the bats show up in Game 7 to take some of the immense pressure off this exhausted pitching staff would be a pretty awesome way to finish off a World Series title.