The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their road trip Friday night without Shohei Ohtani in the lineup for the series opener against the Chicago White Sox.
That didn’t come as much of a surprise even with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts initially suggesting Ohtani would play the night after being removed early because of left knee inflammation. Ohtani underwent an MRI on Friday that Roberts said only revealed “normal wear and tear.”
“He’s doing fine today,” Roberts added on SportsNet LA. “I thought initially it was the hamstring. It was the knee. It just kind of got upset, swelled up a little bit. We were kind of getting ahead of it, getting him out of the game, which I think was prudent. And with the travel, just to give him an extra day.
“My hope is that he’s in there tomorrow, but if not, he’ll need another day. But it’s something I think we can manage. Not an IL situation. Seeing him today, he feels fine-ish. Just giving him an extra day is the smart thing to do.”
Roberts relayed that Ohtani is experiencing “some soreness” in the back of his left knee.
“That’s where a lot of the swelling with the knee kind of builds,” Roberts said. “But again, his range of motion today is good. If it was another time in the season, he’d be in there tonight.”
Santiago Espinal, who pinch-hit for Ohtani on Wednesday night, was back as the designated hitter for the first game against the White Sox.
Shohei Ohtani’s left knee injury history
Ohtani’s left knee was operated on in 2019 to repair a bipartite patella, which occurs when the two bones of the kneecap did not fuse together at birth. While the inflammation is now occurring in the same limb, there otherwise isn’t a connection.
Nor is there much clarity on what has caused the latest issue.
“There is no incident. We don’t know, he doesn’t know,” Roberts said. “I asked him if it was during the pitching, was it when he was hitting, when he was trying to steal a base. There was no one incident, so I think maybe that’s a good thing.”
Ohtani’s next pitching start
As the Dodgers wait for Ohtani to return to their lineup Saturday or Sunday, the plan as of now is for him to also take the mound Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“I expect him to make his start on Wednesday until I hear otherwise,” Roberts said.
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