The Los Angeles Dodgers have adjusted their pitching rotation after two-way star Shohei Ohtani paused his mound duties due to lingering left knee irritation.
Ohtani received a lubricant injection before the All-Star break and was scheduled to start Wednesday against the Philadelphia Phillies.
However, he felt discomfort while playing catch over the weekend, leading the team to hold him out of bullpen sessions.
The club moved Emmet Sheehan to start the series opener against Philadelphia's Cristopher Sánchez. Ohtani remains in the lineup as the leadoff designated hitter without restrictions.
“I would say that it’s going to be some time,” said manager Dave Roberts. He noted that the mechanics of hitting do not aggravate Ohtani's knee.
“It’s not going to be a day-to-day thing,” Roberts added.
Ohtani has been managing knee inflammation since mid-June, which led to a shortened outing against Pittsburgh on June 11 and his absence from the All-Star Game.
“We just want to continue to give it the best chance to kind of get in a good spot,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers are leveraging their strong divisional lead—11 1/2 games in the NL West—and upcoming schedule breaks to allow medical staff to treat the issue without rushing a return.
“As he said, as we feel, it’s the pitching and the torque on landing on that leg. That kind of gets it upset.
So I think that hitting doesn’t do that.
So I think that for us, we’re trying to give it as much time as possible,” Roberts explained.
Ohtani went 2-for-5 with two RBIs in a doubleheader opener against the New York Yankees before completing a long day of field work.
“Overall, I think a good day for Shohei,” Roberts said.
The decision aims to prevent recurring health setbacks during the final stretch of the regular season.
“A lot of it is where we’re at and how we put ourselves in a good spot in the sense of, could he probably do it?
Sure.
But right now the benefits don’t seem to outweigh the cost of this time in the season,” Roberts said.
Team officials expressed confidence that Ohtani will return to the rotation later this year.
“If it’s two weeks or three weeks then that’s kind of why we’re trying to do this, so we don’t have to worry about it throughout the end of the season,” Roberts added.
Meanwhile, left-hander Blake Snell continues his rehabilitation, throwing 32 pitches for Triple-A Oklahoma City as he recovers from an elbow injury.
“I think that once we moved Emmet, the rotation can keep going forward without Shohei for the time being.
I can’t speak for how long that’s going to be,” Roberts said.
The organization chose to delay Ohtani's mound return after evaluating his physical response following the midseason break.
“He was on the schedule when we broke for the All-Star break and then it was more of the training staff talking to him about, ‘Hey, coming out of the break, how does Wednesday look?
How do you feel? If you don’t feel 100%, we have the opportunity to kick the can,’” Roberts said.
The Dodgers retain full organizational authority over Ohtani's pitching timetable.
“I think it’s more driven by the organization saying, hey, if you’re not 100% right, we don’t have to do this,” Roberts concluded.
