The Los Angeles Dodgers face a challenging balancing act in regard to Shohei Ohtani’s workload and ongoing condition of his left knee injury.
The two-way superstar had already been taken out of the starting rotation indefinitely when he was not in the lineup July 30 because of soreness in the ailing knee. Ohtani and the team had previously indicated that only pitching caused trouble.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently said the organization is not prioritizing one aspect of Ohtani’s game over the other, specifying that his pitching and hitting are equally impactful to the club’s success.
“They’re both really important to us, and I think get at what an incredible player he is,” Friedman began. “That being said, it’s more reacting to what’s going on. I think it is ideal when he is dominating on both sides, and if there is something that is going on that prevents him from doing one or the other, then obviously we’ll respond to that.
“I just don’t think about it that way, other than we want to help him do both for as long as he can, as high level as he can, and any time along the way, if there’s something we have to address, we just react to it, communicate our way through it, and figure it out. But I think both are important.”
A prime example of the Dodgers’ approach Friedman outlined was seen when Ohtani experienced more knee soreness following a bullpen session on July 22. He had been tentatively scheduled to throw another days later, but it was canceled and he didn’t resume a throwing program until Aug. 8.
Ohtani has since managed to throw a bullpen session again and is making progress toward a return to the rotation.
Shohei Ohtani avoided injured list
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently explained why the team has not placed its star player on the injured list, citing trust in Ohtani to know when he needs a break.
The Dodgers have previously allowed players to play an active role in discussions about injury management. Roberts brought up the situation with Freddie Freeman multiple years ago and how the Dodgers collaborated with him in managing some of his playing time amid injury.
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