The Los Angeles Dodgers made the call to rest superstar Shohei Ohtani on Thursday after looking awry at the plate and dealing with discomfort.
Dave Roberts told reporters, including Dodgers Nation, that he still believes Ohtani will avoid the injured list, but will be “day-to-day” for now.
Over the last few months, Ohtani has been dealing with left knee pain and bicep soreness from his pitching workload.
Roberts said that the bicep and now the right side of Ohtani’s neck flared up on Wednesday, dismissing any impact from his knee.
How will the Dodgers monitor Shohei Ohtani’s injury
The team will be checking in on him regularly to see how he feels. Roberts decided to sit Ohtani after the game, texting him to let him know, and Ohtani simply sent a salute.
The injuries to the knee and bicep have not been getting better; rather, they have continued to get worse, Roberts explained.
Although he has stopped pitching, which caused the ailments, Ohtani has not taken a break from the lineup until now, hitting every day no matter the results.
However, after a rough night on Wednesday, when he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, the skipper saw enough.
“At the end of the day, I’m either going to play him or not play him if it’s of benefit to the team,” Roberts said. “And what I’ve seen recently, you see him kind of laboring and not feeling close to where he needs to be.
“Certainly last night was a tipping point. We’ve got to see as he cranks up tomorrow and sees how it feels, and I’ll hear how it feels and then make a decision.”
The Dodgers are taking a wait-and-see approach with Ohtani, but there seems to be overall reluctance to put him on the injured list.
What Comes Next for Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers
If things don’t improve for Ohtani soon, the Dodgers need to decide whether it’s worth having him play at a suboptimal level.
The next evaluation point for the Dodgers will come Friday, before the series opener against the Washington Nationals, which luckily won’t involve travel.
