Mookie Betts Lauds Dalton Rushing for Taking Accountability Following Tense Moment With Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani and Dalton Rushing had some miscommunications during the game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field last Wednesday.

Mookie Betts Lauds Dalton Rushing for Taking Accountability Following Tense Moment With Shohei Ohtani

Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Dalton Rushing (Image via Imago/X/@@YahooFantasy

Last Wednesday, there was a tense moment between Los Angeles Dodgers stars Dalton Rushing and Shohei Ohtani. The two of them were not on the same page early on. In his recent podcast episode, Mookie Betts lauded the young catcher for taking accountability after this incident.

The Dodgers had Ohtani on the mound as they took on the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Japanese international entered the second inning with a 1-0 lead following a home run from Betts.

Ohtani struggled a bit and gave up 3 singles and loaded up the bases with 1 out. While facing Ryan Kreidler, his 102 mph fastball went past Rushing, allowing the Twins to score.

Rushing, who has found his name in the spotlight for some unwanted reasons, had a tense moment with the 2-way star. He was not happy with the pitch and exchanged a stern look.

The two stars later had a chat at the mound. They also had miscommunications regarding challenging calls. In the at-bat against Kreidler in the 2nd inning, a sweeper from Ohtani was deemed a ball by the umpire.

As the reigning National League MVP tapped his hat to challenge the call, Rushing was not fully on board. The ABS challenge revealed the ball to be inside the zone and overturned the call. The Dodgers eventually fell behind 3-1 in the second inning.

In between innings, manager Dave Roberts also had some words with Rushing in the dugout. In the third inning, Ohtani took full control of pitch-calling duties. In the end, the Dodgers won 4-3. After the game, the catcher admitted that he had not been great as of late.

I thought he (Shohei) did a good job. I didn’t do a great job, start to finish. It was pretty embarrassing. Thankfully, he’s as good as he is and he could take control of a game.

Dalton Rushing said regarding Shohei Ohtani via Sportsnet LA

Betts recently had his teammate Max Muncy on his “On Base with Mookie Betts” podcast. During their conversation, the 33-year-old brought up the incident between Rushing and Ohtani. While discussing this, he applauded Rushing for taking accountability for the situation.

What I really enjoyed was how Rush later on took accountability. He knows that he has a lot on his plate.

Mookie Betts said regarding Dalton Rushing and Shohei Ohtani’s moment

Will Smith currently serves as the primary catcher for the Dodgers. Ohtani has a low ERA when he has him behind the plate instead of Rushing.

Despite this tense moment, Rushing is expected to start as the catcher on Friday when Ohtani takes the mound. This will be Ohtani’s first start since that game against the Twins.

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Max Muncy claims Shohei Ohtani “loves” pitching

Shohei Ohtani will be on the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers when they face the San Diego Padres on Friday. Ahead of this game, Max Muncy was in awe of his teammate and claimed that he “loves” pitching more than hitting.

Max Muncy and Shohei Ohtani
Max Muncy and Shohei Ohtani (Image via MLB)

In the conversation with Mookie Betts, Muncy opened up about how much Ohtani liked preparing for a start as a pitcher. The third baseman even expressed that he (Ohtani) could be batting with a .400 average if he did the same level of preparation for hitting.

Shohei likes to hit, but he loves to pitch. Like, he loves everything about pitching. He likes working at it, he likes talking about it, he likes scouting for it. Hitting just comes easy to him; he just does it. … The amount of work he puts in at pitching, I almost feel like if he did that for hitting, he’d be Ted Williams out there with a 400 average and 60 home runs.

Max Muncy said regarding Shohei Ohtani

Ohtani returned to his two-way role of being a designated hitter/pitcher last year. In his first season with the Dodgers, he only played as the DH following surgery in 2023.

In 2024, he batted with a .310 average and founded the 50-50 club (50 home runs and 50 stolen bases). Last season, he had a .282 batting average with 55 home runs while he went 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 14 regular-season starts.

This year, he is hitting .291 with 18 home runs and 50 RBIs. As a pitcher, he has an 8-2 record with a 1.58 ERA in 13 games. These stats have made him a contender for the NL Cy Young Award this season.

Speaking of the Dodgers, they came back from 6-0 down on Thursday and won 7-12 against the Padres. While Ohtani went 1-for-4 with one walk as the hitter, Rushing went 4-for-4 with 4 RBIs. With the win, they extended their lead over them to 13 games.

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