Shohei Ohtani has been out of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup for three consecutive games due to left knee soreness, right biceps discomfort and neck trouble, casting doubt not only on his availability going forward but also on whether he will pitch again during the 2026 season.
Ohtani hasn’t taken the mound in a game since July 3 but resumed his throwing progression last month. After appearing to make some progress, he has essentially been shut down since a shortened bullpen session on Aug. 28 and isn’t even doing work with plyo balls.
“I think just speaking honestly is until I see him throw a bullpen, then it becomes a conversation for me,” manager Dave Roberts said when asked if the Dodgers are still planning for Ohtani to pitch again this season.
“So I know that he’s in lockstep with Mark (Prior), the pitching guys, the training staff. But I think for me, he’s got to throw a bullpen, and then we’ll see the next progression. When the bullpen happens, then we have a conversation.”
Roberts stopped short of providing a potential target date for Ohtani to resume throwing as he is most focused on the two-way star being healthy enough to return to the Dodgers lineup.
“You know, there’s no hard timeline because any inning that he gives us is additive, given his roster availability. So to say that you could give us one inning or two innings is not valuable. That’s not true,” Roberts explained.
“The cost is does it affect his health? So there’s really no timeline, definitive deadline to say, ‘Hey, this is when we’re going to stop.’ So that’s kind of where we’re at.”
Roberts acknowledged that shutting down Ohtani as a pitcher is “certainly an option” and noted the 32-year-old would be open to the possibility as well.
“I think on his terms, his time, he would certainly be open to that,” Roberts said.
Will Dodgers place Shohei Ohtani on injured list?
While Roberts has been hopeful that Ohtani can avoid a stint on the 15-day injured list, a decision will likely come before the Dodgers’ series finale against the Washington Nationals. Ohtani took batting practice before Saturday’s game and did not report any pain.
“He did take some swings, and I think right now, honestly, I’m going to see how he comes in tomorrow,” Roberts said. “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. So we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
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