{"id":1044457,"date":"2026-09-05T06:55:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T06:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1044457\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T06:55:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T06:55:37","slug":"dodgers-hopeful-but-not-confident-shohei-ohtani-will-avoid-il","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1044457\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers ‘hopeful’ but not confident Shohei Ohtani will avoid IL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a>\u2019 tone shifted slightly Friday, as he addressed Shohei Ohtani<\/a>\u2019s absence from the lineup for the second straight day.<\/p>\n

After describing a stint on the injured list as \u201cunlikely but not impossible\u201d on Thursday, Roberts said Friday that he was \u201chopeful, but I wouldn\u2019t say confident,\u201d that Ohtani would avoid the IL.<\/p>\n

Still considered day to day, Ohtani did not play in the Dodgers\u2019 5-3 win<\/a> over the Washington Nationals. <\/p>\n

There are a wide range of possibilities for Ohtani as he continues to deal with lingering pain in his right biceps. Though the Dodgers<\/a> experimented earlier in the season with ways to manage his two-way workload \u2014 holding him out of the batting order on the day he pitched, giving him the day off after a start on the mound, or both \u2014 this is the first time he has missed two consecutive games. And he hasn\u2019t pitched since July 3.<\/p>\n

Roberts described Thursday as a \u201cspa day,\u201d meaning Ohtani rested, watched the game from the dugout and didn\u2019t do any baseball activities. Roberts said Friday was a day to \u201cstart getting his body moving a little bit.\u201d And after the game, he was still undecided on whether Ohtani would be in the lineup Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s stay in communication, and let\u2019s see when the time to give the green light is,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Roberts said Ohtani has been \u201cvery agreeable\u201d with the decision to rest him. Ohtani has declined multiple requests for comment over consecutive days through a team spokesperson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he wants to be out there, wants to play,\u201d Roberts said, \u201cbut he\u2019s understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

An MRI scan of the area around his biceps and neck showed no structural damage, or as Roberts put it \u201cnothing of note at all,\u201d which is a promising sign. But Ohtani\u2019s swings and body language Wednesday signaled that something was clearly wrong, affecting Ohtani\u2019s play.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Shohei Ohtani is hurt. The Dodgers\u2019 rotation is injured. The team is in a fairly long slump and a first round bye isn\u2019t remotely guaranteed.<\/p>\n

The fact that the Dodgers (84-57) have not put Ohtani on the IL yet doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that he\u2019ll be out fewer than 10 days \u2014 it just means that they can\u2019t rule out an earlier return. Teams can backdate IL moves up to three days. But that hasn\u2019t traditionally served as a hard deadline for the Dodgers to make IL decisions. It isn\u2019t expected to in this case, either.<\/p>\n

Although having an injured player take up a roster spot for more than a few days isn\u2019t ideal, it\u2019s easier to cover for the designated hitter spot than other positions. And there is no obvious replacement on the 40-man roster pushing for a call-up through an extended period of outstanding play. Those factors mitigate the urgency to make a move.<\/p>\n

In Ohtani\u2019s absence, the Dodgers have started outfielder Alex Call<\/a> at DH against left-handed pitchers, with Dalton Rushing<\/a> available off the bench in the later innings.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers' <\/p>\n

Dodgers\u2019 starting pitcher Blake Snell delivers against the Washington Nationals in the first inning Friday.<\/p>\n

(Scott Strazzante \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

The setup has afforded Rushing more regular at-bats than initially expected when the Dodgers activated him this week. Because Rushing (elbow) is still working through a throwing program, the original plan was to have him pinch-hit one at-bat per game until he was ready to return to catching duties.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers also have not officially ruled out Ohtani\u2019s return to pitching, seeing even one or two innings from him as a plus. But the longer he\u2019s out, the less likely it\u2019ll become.<\/p>\n

Ohtani\u2019s planned buildup from tossing live batting practice on Aug. 22, to preparing to possibly start a little more than a week later, instead ended with the Dodgers shutting him down from throwing. Ohtani hasn\u2019t even gone through weighted plyo ball drills in \u201ca few days,\u201d according to Roberts.<\/p>\n

Asked what that meant for Ohtani\u2019s return-to-pitching timeline, Roberts said it \u201ccertainly pushes it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mookie <\/p>\n

Mookie Betts scores on Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s two-run double in the third inning against the Nationals on Friday.<\/p>\n

(Scott Strazzante \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

The priority, however, is getting Ohtani back to himself on the offensive side before the postseason \u2014 whether that means a couple days off or more than a week.<\/p>\n

Roberts described the two-day break from the lineup as not just a physical one, but also a mental reprieve for Ohtani. He recorded just two hits in his last six games (23 at-bats). And over the past four weeks, he has a .703 OPS \u2014 compared to his .903 OPS overall this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a lot of players, when they\u2019re not feeling well physically it adds to the toll mentally and emotionally,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cSo I think Shohei is like that, like most players. We\u2019re just kind of balancing how many days is sufficient to then be worth the time to get back, versus running this play out of days off and it not being adequate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back on track? \"Kyle <\/p>\n

Kyle Tucker scores on a single by Mookie Betts in the Dodgers\u2019 5-3 win over the Washington Nationals on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n

(Scott Strazzante \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

Coming off a series loss to the Cardinals, the Dodgers\u2019 offense carried the momentum it found at the beginning of the week into Friday. Even slumping Kyle Tucker<\/a> hit a solo home run against the Nationals \u2014 his first homer since Aug. 8 and his first at Dodger Stadium since June 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to stay inside and through a ball 99 [mph] up and in, it puts me in a good spot to have success,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cSo just trying to replicate that again tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blake Snell tossed six shutout innings, navigating the traffic of five hits and two walks while allowing only one baserunner past second base.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing six is cool, and it\u2019s a good starting point,\u201d Snell said. \u201cI really want to go seven, eight. I want to get to nine. For me to do that, I gotta locate the fastball more, throw more strikes, and get early contact for outs. Overall, though, a lot of weak contact. So happy about that, but I can still execute a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reliever Seth Halvorsen gave up three hits without recording an out in the ninth, but the Dodgers had built up enough of a lead to weather a Washington (67-76) comeback attempt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got a little hairy at the end,\u201d Roberts said, \u201cbut we\u2019ll bank the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dodgers manager Dave Roberts\u2019 tone shifted slightly Friday, as he addressed Shohei Ohtani\u2019s absence from the lineup for…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1044458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[76557,1582,276,418099,53902,2385,2442,6803,5208,5386,2961,224,5337,8328,5039,418098,418100,26804,2450,2452],"class_list":["post-1044457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-absence","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-confident-shohei-ohtani","tag-consecutive-game","tag-day","tag-dodgers","tag-first-time","tag-friday","tag-il","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-ohtani","tag-play","tag-regular-at-bat","tag-right-bicep","tag-roberts","tag-thursday","tag-week"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117217130644643950","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1044457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1044458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1044457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1044457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1044457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}