Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn images
June 17, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17) adjusts his cap as he meets catcher Dalton Rushing (68), pitching coach Mark Prior (99) and translator Will Ireton on the mound in the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Dodger Stadium.
After an almost unimaginable start to the season on the mound, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has come back down to earth a bit in his recent starts, and there may be an obvious reason for that.
The trend continued Wednesday night, as Ohtani pitched six solid innings and allowed three runs, two of which were earned, in a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Just one moment between Ohtani and second-year catcher Dalton hurry especially attracted the attention of fans.
Dalton Rushing disagreed with Shohei Ohtani’s decision to contest.
Shohei was right pic.twitter.com/v1g2T8tbxI
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 25, 2026
In the bottom of the second inning, and with runners on second and third base with one out, Ohtani delivered a 1-1 sweeper for batter Ryan Kreidler.
The referee called the throw a ball, and Ohtani immediately challenged, prompting a frustrated reaction from Rushing, who shook his head and rolled his eyes.
Sure enough, the field was turned and a strike was called.
Normally, a disagreement between a pitcher and a catcher would not be a problem. After all, it happens all the time. However, in this case there may be more to look at.
Dalton Rushing has made Shohei Ohtani significantly worse this season
As we mentioned, Ohtani started the season with absolutely breathtaking numbers on the mound, and a lot of that could be attributed to working with star catcher Will Smith.
In 10 starts with Smith behind the plate this season, Ohtani has allowed just five earned runs and had a minuscule 0.74 ERA.
However, Smith has missed time all season due to persistent neck inflammation, meaning Ohtani has made three starts pitching for Rushing instead. In those three starts, he has allowed nine earned runs and has a 4.34 ERA, leading to speculation that Rushing is setting his ace up for failure.
Ohtani even showed it visible frustration with haste multiple occasions against the Gemini.
There was also a sense of haste beat themselves up about the moments in the dugout, and said after the game that he was ashamed that teammates had to intervene and help him regain control of himself.
Maybe it’s nothing. But Rushing has already developed a bad reputation around the league, and being on the wrong side of the betting and being the most popular player in Major League Baseball won’t help that.
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