Dave Roberts defends Shohei Ohtani after Blue Jays take issue

That was the Dodgers manager's answer after Toronto took issue with how long Ohtani was getting to get loose during Wednesday's series finale at Rogers Centre. Roberts did not dodge it. He leaned straight into it.

Roberts said the Blue Jays were trying to speed Ohtani up and treat him like any other pitcher. Then he drew the line that turned the whole exchange into a bigger story: “But the truth is, he's different.”

From a Blue Jays angle, that lands as a direct answer to George Springer's complaint in the first inning. Springer had approached home plate umpire Dan Bellino to ask about the amount of warmup time Ohtani was taking. Dave Roberts was visibly annoyed in the dugout.

That made this more than a rules question. It turned into a little power struggle over pace, respect, and whether the Dodgers superstar gets a different lane than everybody else. That is an inference based on Springer's complaint and Roberts' postgame response.

Roberts' bigger point was that Ohtani is carrying a workload most pitchers are not. Yahoo reported Roberts said Ohtani “needs more grace” because he is handling the demands of being a two-way player again.

This is where the Blue Jays side gets interesting. Springer was not asking for drama. He was trying to make sure Los Angeles was not getting extra room in a game Toronto badly needed. That is an inference based on the timing of the exchange and Toronto entering the day on a losing streak.

Roberts clearly saw it differently. His answer framed the complaint almost like gamesmanship, with the Blue Jays trying to strip away every edge Ohtani might get before the at-bat even started.

That is also why this blew up so fast. Ohtani is not just another starter on the mound. He threw 6 scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts in that game, and every detail around him already gets magnified.

For Toronto, the frustration is easy to read. When a team is scuffling, even a few extra beats between innings can feel like another opponent-controlled advantage. That is an inference from the series context and the Blue Jays' visible reaction.

Still, Roberts did not leave any room for confusion. He was not arguing that Ohtani should be rushed. He was arguing the exact opposite, that the Dodgers star deserves a little flexibility because his job is different from everyone else's.

That answer will not satisfy many Blue Jays fans. If anything, it is likely to harden the feeling that Toronto was dealing with a different standard in its own ballpark. That is an inference based on the Blue Jays' complaint and Roberts' “he's different” line.

But that is the clean takeaway from the finale. The Blue Jays challenged the treatment, and Roberts came back with a blunt reminder of how the Dodgers see Shohei Ohtani: not as a normal pitcher, not as a normal star, and not as someone who should be handled like anyone else.