{"id":946081,"date":"2026-07-19T20:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T20:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/946081\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T20:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T20:52:15","slug":"shohei-ohtani-wont-make-next-pitching-start-return-to-mound-unclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/946081\/","title":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani won’t make next pitching start, return to mound unclear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEW YORK\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Dodgers<\/a> don\u2019t know when Shohei Ohtani<\/a> will be on the mound again.<\/p>\n

He was tentatively scheduled to start Wednesday against the Phillies, after promising initial reports on his recovery from an injection in his left knee. But after seeing his knee\u2019s response to playing catch, the team decided to give him more time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want to continue to give it the best chance to kind of get into a good spot,\u201d manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said before the Dodgers\u2019 8-2 win<\/a> over the Yankees in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Sunday. \u201cAnd as he said, as we feel, it\u2019s the pitching and the torque of landing on that leg that kind of gets it upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was clear enough from catch play that Ohtani\u2019s start would have to be pushed back and that Ohtani did not feel the need to test it by throwing off a mound, Roberts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere we\u2019re at right now, how we\u2019re proceeding, I would say that it\u2019s going to be some time,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be a day-to-day thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That left a wide range of timeline possibilities, from days to weeks. Roberts did, however, rule out shutting down Ohtani from pitching for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess anything is possible, but I just don\u2019t think that\u2019s a possibility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hitting, however, does not seem to aggravate Ohtani\u2019s knee. And he made his presence known in the lineup Sunday.<\/p>\n

Ohtani drove in the Dodgers\u2019 first run, lining a third-inning double to the warning track in right-center field. He later scored on Freddie Freeman\u2019s single to shallow center field.<\/p>\n

That sequence played an important role in holding the pressure on Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler<\/a>, who was pulled with one out in the fifth, with his pitch count at 98.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers piled on against the Yankees\u2019 bullpen. And Ohtani contributed an RBI single in their five-run eighth.<\/p>\n

Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a> pitched a complete game, holding the Yankees to four hits and striking out seven to improve to 10-6.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers during the first inning against the Yankees on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Jim McIsaac \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

He got through the Yankees\u2019 lineup without allowing a baserunner. To lead off the fourth inning, Yamamoto surrendered a solo homer to Trent Grisham. But then he was back to cruising, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters.<\/p>\n

Yamamoto would have navigated through the eighth without giving up another run if center fielder Andy Pages hadn\u2019t lost Jazz Chisholm Jr.\u2019s leadoff fly ball in the sun for a double. Chisholm later scored on a single from Anthony Volpe.<\/p>\n

Yamamoto\u2019s gem not only set the Dodgers up for the win but also lightened the load on the Dodgers\u2019 bullpen, which was tasked with covering Game 2.<\/p>\n

To fill Ohtani\u2019s spot in the rotation, the Dodgers moved right-hander Emmet Sheehan\u2019s start to Monday. He was scheduled to start Saturday before the rainout. Left-handers Justin Wrobleski and Eric Lauer are set to start the other games against the Phillies.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, a lot of it is where we\u2019re at and how we\u2019ve put ourselves in a good spot,\u201d Roberts said of the MLB-leading Dodgers. \u201cCould [Ohtani] probably do it? Sure. But right now, the benefits just don\u2019t seem to outweigh the cost at this time of the season. So I think we still have plenty of time to get him to a good spot to then pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani (8-2, 1.79 ERA) hasn\u2019t pitched since July 3, skipping his last start before the All-Star break. Ideally, the Dodgers would like to get Ohtani to a spot where he isn\u2019t worrying about managing his knee for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re trying to be a little bit more on the proactive side,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers are committed to maintaining a six-to-seven man rotation. But with an off day scheduled in each of the next few weeks, they could do so through at least the end of the month without a sixth starter. Then, a spot start or bullpen day could buy them more time.<\/p>\n

Left-hander Blake Snell is also on track to return from the injured list in a few weeks. Before the All-Star break, pitching coach Mark Prior estimated that Snell would need at least four or five minor-league rehab starts before returning. Even with Ohtani\u2019s injury, the Dodgers aren\u2019t expected to rush Snell\u2019s build-up.<\/p>\n

Snell (loose bodies in his elbow) threw 1 \u2153 innings for triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday to begin his rehab assignment. All four outs were strikeouts. He\u2019s scheduled to take the mound again this coming Friday, Roberts said, targeting three innings.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 starting pitching depth has buoyed them through injuries to Snell, Tyler Glasnow (back spasms) and now Ohtani. But it\u2019s running thin.<\/p>\n

Top pitching prospect River Ryan, expected to contribute to the major-league team this year, has battled a recurring hamstring injury in triple A. On the minor-league injured list since late June, he\u2019s throwing off a mound again, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. But he still needs to build up to a starter\u2019s workload.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Dodgers don\u2019t know when Shohei Ohtani will be on the mound again. He was tentatively scheduled…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":946082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,64527,2442,91950,380915,2961,249018,224,5337,56582,8332,380917,26804,5950,207041,4712,22799,380916,2452],"class_list":["post-946081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-catch","tag-dodgers","tag-doubleheader","tag-good-spot","tag-la","tag-left-knee","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-more-time","tag-mound","tag-right-hander-emmet-sheehan","tag-roberts","tag-season","tag-second-game","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-start","tag-timeline-possibility","tag-week"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116948628201280223","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946081","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=946081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}