Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has two different problems that he is dealing with — a lingering pitching blister and knee inflammation.
Ohtani missed a game last week with knee soreness, picking it up in the middle of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
The injury does not have a root cause traceable to a single play; rather, it is the culmination of wear and tear.
He only missed Friday’s season opener against the Chicago White Sox before returning to the lineup and playing in all of the games up until Wednesday’s series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Ohtani was on the field as a pitcher, but he missed the game as a hitter, with Miguel Rojas taking his place as the DH. He came in for a pinch-hitting opportunity, but it would be his only plate appearance of the game.
He went 0-for-1 in the game in the box as a hitter, while allowing seven hits, a season-high four runs, a walk, and only five strikeouts.
His ERA “ballooned” to 1.47, allowing multiple runs for his second straight start, along with his ERA being firmly above the 1.00 mark.
Additionally, as it has been for his last few starts, his blister re-emerged, though this time it was bleeding and looked quite visible.
Naturally, with his two worst pitching starts now and these issues really coming into focus, the status of these two alignments has become clearer.
What is the latest on Ohtani’s blister and knee?
Ohtani’s knee issue is not “completely behind us,” according to manager Dave Roberts, with the team needing to manage it and ensure he stays upright throughout the season.
Likely, this just means extra rest whenever possible. Roberts did not outright dismiss the notion of extra rest in between starts, but he was quite confident that Ohtani would be on his regular schedule.
“So I feel good that, right now, I don’t see why he won’t make his start.”
On the blister, Ohtani chalked it up to normal wear and something he could power through, bothering him a bit but nothing nearly enough to notably compromise him.
“It’s just part of the game,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “There aren’t a lot of situations where you feel 100 percent, so I just took it as that, and it’s big that we were able to win a game like this.
“Actually, I just felt good overall. It’s just really that inning, that fifth inning, that I wasn’t really too pleased. But aside from that, the stuff was good and felt pretty good overall.”
With regards to the bleeding, the Dodgers skipper put that down to a lack of pregame preparation.
“Potentially, but I think that we do this Dermabond, and I think today, I don’t know if it came off or he didn’t use it today, and that’s what spurred the bleeding late,” Roberts said.
Overall, all things considered, there should be nothing more expected than extra rest for the Dodgers’ superstar, who will play as much as possible.
Even more rest between starts could ruin his Cy Young odds, but considering how amazing the field is this year, it is already looking like a stretch.
The Dodgers, while open to pushing for regular-season goals, are always driven by postseason success, and that starts and ends with Ohtani.
Keeping him healthy is the top priority, and they will always manage him with caution.
