Shohei Ohtani is back in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for the series opener against the Cincinnati Reds, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced. Ohtani is in his usual leadoff spot as the Dodgers’ designated hitter.
He returns after missing the past four games because of lingering left knee soreness, right bicep discomfort and a recent neck issue. Roberts revealed Ohtani reported the neck trouble after going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
That performance, which included unusual swings and Ohtani shaking his right arm, wound up serving as a breaking point of sorts.
“I saw the same thing that everyone saw,” Roberts said after the loss. “I saw the shaking of the arm, I saw the wincing, and clearly the swings aren’t who he is. Obviously there’s some compensation.”
Ohtani went on to miss four games in a row for the first time in his Dodgers career. He made progress toward returning by taking swings in the batting cage on Saturday night.
“I’m going to see how he comes in tomorrow. It was good to see during the game he was hitting. I don’t know what intensity, but the hitting coaches said he was swinging with some intent,” Roberts said. “So we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
Although Ohtani was not yet back in the lineup on Sunday, he nearly pinch-hit in the bottom of the eighth inning of the Dodgers’ comeback win.
And while he is now playing again, the Dodgers have all but firmly ruled out Ohtani pitching again this season.
Why the Dodgers didn’t put Ohtani on injured list
Sunday in some sense was a bit of a tipping point as it represented the final time the Dodgers could put Ohtani on the injured list without losing credit for the games he already missed. MLB roster rules allow teams the possibility of backdating an IL stint for up to three days.
Roberts softened his stance over the weekend in terms of possibly putting Ohtani on the injured list. However, because MLB rules dictate that a two-way player go on the 15-day IL instead of 10 days, Roberts admitted it was “more of a deterrent.”
He also downplayed the idea of Sunday needing to be when a decision was made.
“Yes, we would lose the three back days,” Roberts said. “But also there’s a chance we could almost be in bed with the idea whether it’s six, seven, eight days, it’s better than 10 days if he’s trending in the right direction. … To not lose him for 15 days is meaningful.”
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