PHOENIX –– On nights like Thursday, Shohei Ohtani is supposed to be a silver bullet off the bench for the Dodgers.

Only this time, the two-way star was left holstered in a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks; unable to be fired as the last round in the chamber.

A day after throwing six scoreless innings on the mound and reaching base five times at the plate, Ohtani did not start in Thursday’s finale at Chase Field — getting the type of scheduled, post-pitching-performance day off that the Dodgers have hinted at doing more frequently with him this year.

Part of the appeal of that plan (compared to giving Ohtani only half-days off by not having him hit in his pitching outings) is that he can be used as a pinch-hitter the day he’s out of the starting lineup.

And in Thursday’s nail-bitter of a defeat, an opportunity seemed to be presenting itself.

With the score tied in the top of the ninth inning, Ohtani was strapping on protective pads and batting gloves in the dugout when Will Smith came up and lined a two-out double.

Suddenly, the Dodgers had the go-ahead run in scoring position. They also had an unfavorable matchup at the plate: righty Arizona closer Paul Seward against right-handed (and light-hitting) utility man Santiago Espinal.

It wasn’t the perfect situation to insert Ohtani, who likely would’ve been intentionally walked.

But at such a critical juncture, the Dodgers were also handicapped by a more critical factor: Ohtani was the last bat left on the bench. And he wasn’t about to stay in and play defense.

Up to that point, the Dodgers had already burned all their other reserves. Espinal entered for Max Muncy after he was involved in a violent collision in the fifth inning. Alex Call pinch-ran for Ryan Ward in the seventh, then stayed in as a defensive replacement. Most consequentially, Miguel Rojas pinch-hit for Alex Freeland to lead off the eighth, leaving only Ohtani left as an unused substitution.

Because of that, the Dodgers’ options with the four-time MVP were limited.

If he were to pinch-hit for Espinal, Ohtani would have either had to go play defense (not happening) or the Dodgers would have had to burn their DH spot (which was occupied by Will Smith).

In that latter scenario, Smith could’ve moved to catcher, Dalton Rushing to first base, and Freddie Freeman to … third?

But doing so at that point, when extra innings were looming and a free base beckoned, didn’t feel worth the risk to Roberts.

“It has to be the right spot,” Roberts said afterward of potentially pinch-hitting Ohtani. “I didn’t want to go two innings trying to figure out how to play defense [after pinch-hitting Shohei].”

Thus, Espinal stayed in –– and struck out.

The Dodgers would get walked off in the bottom half of the inning. 

“We could have hit Shohei right there,” Roberts said. “Then they walk him, you have Call up [in the next at-bat]. But right there, again, you still got to [play] the ninth inning, trying to figure out where guys are going to be. We had no one left on the bench. So I think for me, it was more of once we get into extra innings, then I would kind of fire that bullet.”

Indeed, had the game gone to the 10th, Roberts was planning to finally pinch-hit Ohtani; after which the team was “going to try to piece it together” defensively.

Alas, the night wouldn’t last that long.

Ohtani was left stuck on the bench. The Dodgers were left reconciling a frustrating loss.

“I wanted to stay away from him all game,” Roberts acknowledged. “[But pinch-hitting for him is] harder on the road when you have to play defense if you don’t score.”

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