As the second half begins, the Dodgers are still not ready to loosen the reins on Shohei Ohtani’s pitching work. But they are giving him a new partner.

Ohtani’s next start as a pitcher will come Monday night against the Minnesota Twins. ‘Piggybacking’ with him this time will be Dustin May. Ben Casparius and Emmet Sheehan filled that role for Ohtani’s first five starts. Casparius has returned to a bullpen role. Sheehan has moved into the starting rotation.

“Dustin has done it before so it’s really not going to be that big a deal for him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

The move does not necessarily signal a demotion for May, who has career-highs in ERA (4.96) and WHIP (1.35), but it’s a way to lighten his workload in his comeback season. May is second on the team to Yoshinobu Yamamoto in starts (17) and innings pitched (94 1/3). Both are far and away career-highs for the oft-injured May.

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve already eclipsed probably where we would have expected at this point in time,” Roberts said. “So then to curtail, save — whatever way you want to kind of frame it — a little bit here and there should be a benefit to Dustin, too.”

In his last start before the All-Star break, Ohtani went three innings and threw 36 pitches against the San Francisco Giants, both season highs. But the slow pace of his buildup will continue. Roberts said Ohtani is expected to throw three innings on Monday, maybe increasing to four innings in his next two outings after that. So Ohtani won’t be throwing “a normal game,” Roberts said, any time soon.

“I think it just allows us to get the benefits of both sides in the sense of building Shohei up, to then have somebody behind him that is not just a typical bullpen game, that we feel that this person, whoever it might be on that particular night, can take down the majority of the game,” Roberts said. “And depending on how the game plays out, they can either keep going or we can pivot to leverage guys (short relievers).”

It will also give the Dodgers somewhere to stash one of their surplus starting pitchers — a luxury that seemed so far away for most of the first half but could be coming soon.

Tyler Glasnow rejoined the rotation before the All-Star break and started again on Friday. Blake Snell made his second rehab start on Tuesday in the Arizona Complex League. He threw three innings and is expected to build on that in his next rehab start on Sunday with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

If all goes well, Snell could rejoin the Dodgers’ starting rotation for the first time since April 2 during their next road trip, which begins next weekend in Boston.

— Bill Plunkett

WADE’S INACTIVITY

For all the mixing and matching Padres manager Mike Shildt has felt compelled to do with his lineups and in-game substitutions, one player has been left out.

In a way, Tyler Wade is simply too valuable to have been deployed.

Wade, a left-handed batter from Murrieta Valley High, has played six positions this season (plus pitcher) and is the team’s emergency catcher. But he has played one inning (at second base on July 10) since July 5. He also pinch-ran on July 4 and 5. He had not had a plate appearance in any of their 14 games through Friday.

Shildt has not wanted to use Wade early in games on the chance he might be needed at any number of positions later.

“He’s his own worst enemy as far as playing time,” Shildt said. “Tyler runs in spurts. Every player is there for multiple or certain situations. When you’re a bench player, we know what those situations are. But Tyler, interestingly enough, there’s a lot of different situations (he could be used), but a lot of those situations don’t come up consistently that (would) put him in a position to go play.”

Wade is batting .212 with a .317 on-base percentage this season. Those numbers are .230 and .337 in 31 starts (mostly in center field and left field.) He also has reverse splits this season, batting better against left-handed pitchers (.238/.360) than right-handers (.205/.305).

— San Diego Union-Tribune

Nationals sign top pick Willits

Eli Willits didn’t want to waste time before signing his first pro contract. The 17-year-old shortstop is on a tight schedule.

Willits agreed to terms with the Washington Nationals on Saturday, only six days after the club selected him No. 1 overall in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft.

“I’ve set a goal to be in the big leagues by the time I’m 20, and that’s something I’m really excited to do,” Willits said during an introductory news conference at Nationals Park. “Hopefully, I get out there and start playing well and that can be something I can accomplish in the next few years.”

A switch-hitter from Fort Cobb-Broxton High School in Oklahoma, Willits is the son of Reggie Willits, who played six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and also coached with the New York Yankees.