Here’s how Shohei Ohtani — and the Phillies — are preparing for his start in Game 1 of the NLDS

Six months ago, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sat on the bench in the visitors’ dugout at Citizens Bank Park and pondered his opponent.

“There’s a lot of familiarity, and we haven’t played in a lot of postseason games in recent years,” Roberts said of the Phillies, ahead of their first regular season series in April. “But there’s a little rivalry with us, which is interesting.”

Does it surprise him that the Phillies and Dodgers have not met in the playoffs since 2009?

» READ MORE: From .095 to a breakthrough: How Brandon Marsh’s turnaround started by just showing up

“I don’t necessarily want to talk it into existence,” Roberts joked.

That day will come Saturday, with the Phillies and Dodgers facing off in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. But unlike in that early-season meeting back in April, the Dodgers now have Shohei Ohtani back on the mound.

The Phillies had their first experience with the pitching side of his two-way superstardom two weeks ago in Los Angeles. Ohtani held the Phillies hitless over five innings and later bashed his 50th home run of the season, though the Dodgers bullpen ultimately blew the game.

Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto was out of the lineup that night, but he believes facing the righty again in close succession could benefit his teammates.

“Just hearing the other guys talk, obviously the stuff is really good,” Realmuto said. “He was able to mix on us really well, kept our guys off balance.

“And they all just mentioned how good the stuff is — the fastball plays up, the breaking balls are sharp. So he’s obviously going to be a challenge for us, but I do think, hopefully, seeing him a second time will help our guys.”

When he takes the ball to start Game 1 opposite Cristopher Sánchez, it will mark Ohtani’s first time pitching at Citizens Bank Park, and his first time pitching in the postseason. Ohtani was a designated hitter only during the Dodgers’ World Series run last year after undergoing elbow surgery in 2023.

“They’re known to be very passionate fans,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “The atmosphere, I’m sure, is going to be passionate and rocking, as well.”

The Phillies will already have to contend with Ohtani’s seven-pitch arsenal of a four-seam, sweeper, slider, curveball, sinker, cutter, and splitter. And it’s also possible Saturday’s environment and the adrenaline that comes with it could cause Ohtani’s velocity to tick up. His four-seam has averaged 98.4 mph this season.

In the championship game of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, one of the most high-stakes games Ohtani has pitched in so far in his career, he threw a blazing fastball to Mike Trout that touched 102 mph. He ultimately struck Trout out with a slider to seal Japan’s win.

» READ MORE: NLDS preview: 25 things to know about the defending champion Dodgers

“I’m aware that there are pitchers who get excited and their velo goes up, and there’s some it just stays pretty much the same,” Ohtani said. “If I were to pick a side, I’m probably the one that really the velo goes up. But that being said, I need to make sure I’m poised and balanced. And it’s just going to be how well I can compose myself out there as well.”

To combat that — and the rest of the Dodgers’ rotation this series — the Phillies’ goal is to work counts and drive up pitch counts to get to Los Angeles’ far shakier bullpen. Across two games of their wild-card series against the Cincinnati Reds, the Dodgers’ bullpen ERA was 10.38.

“We’ll try to do the best we cannot be too passive, where we’re taking a strike or something like that,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “We’re not going to do that. But what we really want to do is keep the ball in the strike zone. That’s really the goal. If you can do that, you’ll build pitch counts.”

The Dodgers have been cautious with Ohtani as he built up during the regular season, keeping him on an innings limit. But in the postseason, they plan to treat him like a normal pitcher.

“The principle I follow is, hitting-wise, pitching-wise, it’s up to the coaching staff to make the determination when to pitch,” Ohtani said. “My intention as a starting pitcher is to go five, six innings. And if the coaching staff thinks that I’ll somewhat be able to be utilized in different situations, then I’ll be ready for that.”

And the experience is a two-way street. While the Phillies offense learned a lot about him in their last meeting, Ohtani learned a lot about them, too.

“I’m sure there’s pros and cons on both sides, as a pitcher and hitters facing me. Having the history provides a little more context,” Ohtani said. “We’re going to find out.”