MINNEAPOLIS – Shohei Ohtani has a problem.

His regular catcher is injured.

Lingering neck pain kept All-Star Will Smith from catching any of Ohtani’s last three starts, and he figures to miss at least a few more.

With catcher Will Smith out, Dodgers ace Shohei Ohtani has struggled throwing to the young and volatile Dalton Rushing. Getty Images

For now, Ohtani has no choice but to throw to Dalton Rushing, Smith’s inexperienced and emotionally volatile backup.

Ohtani’s frustration with Rushing came into sharp focus on Wednesday in a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

The anger was visible in how he spoke to Rushing after a passed ball, in how he forcefully slapped his own head to signal that he wanted to challenge a ball call, in how he started calling his own pitches after a three-run second inning by the Twins.

Suddenly, the 25-year-old Rushing’s career was at a crossroads.

With Smith out, Rushing has caught Ohtani’s last three starts and is expected to catch a few more. Getty Images

The burden to change won’t be on Ohtani. That responsibility is Rushing’s, and Rushing’s only. 

And if Rushing can’t figure out how to work with Ohtani without sending him into a rage, the Dodgers will find someone who will.

In the 10 starts Ohtani made in which Smith was his catcher, he was charged with five earned runs in 61 innings. In the three he made with Rushing behind the plate, he allowed nine earned runs in 18 ⅔ innings.

Whether Rushing is actually responsible for Ohtani’s decline in form is beside the point. If Ohtani thinks he is, he is.

Because Rushing is replaceable. Ohtani isn’t.

The contrition Rushing showed after the game was an indirect acknowledgement of this reality. 

“I didn’t do a great job from start to finish,” Rushing said. “Pretty embarrassing.”

Rushing is hitting .245 on the season eight homeruns and 24 RBI’s in 139 at-bats this season. Getty Images

At some point, manager Dave Roberts stationed himself by Rushing’s side and wrapped his arm around the second-year catcher. Freddie Freeman dropped by to console him.

“It’s embarrassing that I need support like that,” Rushing said. “I’m a grown man.

“I’m going to get better.”

He said the right thing.

A catcher is there to serve the pitcher, but does Rushing have the aptitude or temperament to do that?

He better. His career depends on it.

He certainly can’t do what he did on Wednesday.

His unfamiliarity was an issue from the start of the game, as Ohtani implied that he didn’t feel comfortable with Rushing’s pitching calling, even in the scoreless first inning.

“I felt as if I was throwing with hesitation,” Ohtani said in Japanese. “I think that affected the quality of my pitches.”

Ohtani and Rushing seemed at odds multiple times in Wednesday’s 4-3 victory over the Twins. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If that wasn’t frustrating enough, Ohtani gestured to Rushing to challenge a ball call against Kody Clemens, only to be ignored. Major League Baseball’s pitch-tracking system indicated Ohtani was right. Ohtani went on to walk Clemens on four pitches. 

Ohtani unraveled in the second inning. Victor Caratini led off with a single to right field, after which Ohtani struck out Royce Lewis. Rushing called for three splitters in a six-pitch at-bat by Brooks Lee, the last of which was hit into right field for a single. Rushing called for two more splitters against Tristan Gray, who singled one of them into center field to load the bases.

That’s when disaster struck. With Ryan Kreidler in the batter’s box, Ohtani said Rushing pressed two buttons on the PitchCom system: the first for a breaking ball, the second for a fastball.

“I thought the one he picked last was the choice,” Ohtani said.

With Rushing expecting a breaking ball, Ohtani fired a 101.7 mph fastball, the fastest pitch he’d ever thrown in the major leagues. The ball ricocheted off Rushing’s glove and went into the Dodgers’ dugout, allowing a run to score. Rushing looked at Ohtani in disbelief, reaching out with the mask in his right hand as if to say, “What are you doing?” (Rushing said after the game he was at fault for the cross-up.)

Later in the same at-bat, Ohtani nicked the bottom of a strike zone with a sweeper, only for home plate umpire Ryan Addition to rule it a ball. Ohtani repeatedly tapped his head in quick succession, as if to ask Rushing to challenge it. Rushing shook his head no. This time, Ohtani issued the challenge himself. The call was overturned.

Kreidler eventually singled to drive in two runs. The Dodgers were down, 3-1.

Rushing must find a way to work with Ohtani if he wants to stay as a key part of the Dodgers future. Getty Images

In Ohtani’s view, Rushing failed to make in-game adjustments based on how the Twins were attacking him.

“It was like this in the last start, too,” Ohtani said.

By the next inning, Ohtani was calling his own pitches. 

“I think that was one of the reasons I pitched well,” he said.

Ohtani was exceptional for the remainder of his six-inning start. He allowed only two baserunners and struck out six of the 14 batters he faced from the third inning through the sixth. Throwing his fastball with an average velocity of 99.8 mph, Ohtani finished the game with eight strikeouts.

He said one of the reasons he wanted to call his own pitches was to show Rushing how he likes to do. 

“I think there will be times I team up with Rushing in the future,” he said. “Explaining in words is of course important, but showing him how I pitch in a game could be a good catalyst in developing communication.”

Ohtani has left the door open for Rushing to catch him. But if there are more games like this one, that door will shut.