{"id":968403,"date":"2026-07-30T05:35:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T05:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/968403\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T05:35:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T05:35:34","slug":"dodgers-andrew-friedman-addresses-shohei-ohtanis-knee-injury-and-trade-deadline-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/968403\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers’ Andrew Friedman addresses Shohei Ohtani’s knee injury and trade deadline approach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman all but confirmed Wednesday that the team would be in contact with the Tigers to gauge their asking price for reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere just aren\u2019t that many star-level players in the game,\u201d Friedman said Wednesday afternoon when asked how aggressive the Dodgers would be in pursuing big-name players. \u201cAny time one is available, we\u2019re always going to participate in those conversations. We\u2019ve shown to be very aggressive in the past. \u2026 We\u2019ve traded a lot of really talented young players.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re able to be in those conversations because of the incredible work by our scouts and our front office and our player development group that has our farm system in such a strong spot to be able to talk to any team basically about any player.\u201d<\/p>\n

All that was expected. Checking in is simply due diligence.<\/p>\n

Friedman avoided showing his hand when asked the odds of the Dodgers (68-40<\/a>) acquiring a player like that at the Aug. 3 deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not in the handicapping business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the calculation, with the Tigers on a skid that could push them to sell at the deadline, will be the health of the Dodgers\u2019 pitching staff, which is steadily improving. So, instead of trying to fill specific holes, the Dodgers<\/a> have the luxury of reading the market and being \u201ca little bit more selective and opportunistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the Dodgers\u2019 4-2 win against<\/a> the Mariners on Wednesday, they activated closer Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a> and designated left-hander Charlie Barnes for assignment. D\u00edaz earned the save in his first major-league appearance since undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow in late April, giving up two hits and a run. <\/p>\n

Right-handed starter Tyler Glasnow (back spasms) threw two innings of live batting practice Wednesday afternoon, and right-handed reliever Blake Treinen (right elbow inflammation) threw one simulated inning.<\/p>\n

Over in class-A Ontario, left-hander Blake Snell (arthroscopic elbow surgery) hit his target of four innings and gave up just one hit in what could be his last rehab start before being reinstated from the IL, although Friedman said the team was still talking through the next steps.<\/p>\n

Two-way star Shohei Ohtani\u2019s timeline back to the mound is the biggest unknown, but Friedman insisted that his lingering knee injury didn\u2019t change the Dodgers\u2019 evaluation of its rotation heading into the deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it puts it in an acute need at all,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cWe\u2019re confident he\u2019s going to come back. Again, if there was something structural, then we would be much more concerned with that. But there\u2019s not. And the fact that it does keep improving suggests that we\u2019re on the right path and feel very confident that he will be back.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then that\u2019s also where it gets to the depth that we have and the talented arms that have stepped up with some of our injuries, that we feel like deserved an opportunity to keep going. So it just doesn\u2019t fall into acute. That being said, we\u2019re always open-minded to different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friedman also offered some insight on Ohtani\u2019s right biceps injury, which he first publicly acknowledged on July 3 and that he said Tuesday night was not 100%. Ohtani hasn\u2019t pitched in a game since that July 3 start, when the biceps issue flared in his last at-bat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it weren\u2019t for the knee, he would be pitching right now, he would be making his regular turn [in the rotation],\u201d Friedman said. \u201cWe kept the arm going. Does he feel 100% in his arm? No. But neither does any pitcher in late July. But this is around the knee and making sure that we can get it to a place where there\u2019s just no compensation. So exactly when that is, I\u2019m not sure. But I feel confident that relatively soon, he\u2019s going to start getting out and start ramping up for catch play and bullpens and getting him back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani\u2019s timeline, however, hasn\u2019t progressed the way the Dodgers initially expected since receiving an Orthovisc injection to lubricate his knee at the beginning of the All-Star break. They\u2019d hoped he\u2019d return to the rotation in its first turn out of the break. Instead, he threw a bullpen in Philadelphia last week, and then his throwing program stalled.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been throwing weighted plyo balls to keep his arm strength up without aggravating his knee. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s also unclear what version of Ohtani the Dodgers will get when he returns to the mound.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no question it got significantly better,\u201d Ohtani said in Japanese of the effects of the injection. \u201cBut after talking with the doctors, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s realistic to expect the pain to be zero. That may end up being something that has to wait until the offseason. In the meantime, I\u2019ll keep working through my rehab program and try to get it as close to zero [pain] as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

While playing through the knee injury, and searching for a mechanical adjustment to take some pressure off it, Ohtani\u2019s execution has wavered. He had a 4.38 ERA in his last four starts, compared to 0.74 in his first 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it speaks to the knee and the delivery and just the challenge of repeating it over and over and over again,\u201d Friedman said, \u201cand more speaks to why we are doing this and making sure that we get it calmed down and in a good spot so he can repeat. Then I\u2019ll bet on him to execute.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an argument to be made that the best-case scenario for the Dodgers would be for the Tigers to hold on to Skubal, but time is running out for them to move up in the wild-card race. <\/p>\n

The worst-case scenario would be for him to land with a National League rival. But Friedman said he\u2019s never orchestrated a trade simply to block a fellow contender.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so hard to line up on a trade to begin with,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I was so concerned about a player going to another team, I\u2019d probably want that player and then I would just acquire that player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most trade deadline moves come together late, so plenty could happen in the coming days to define the Dodgers\u2019 direction. <\/p>\n

\u201cFeel really good about the talent base we have in place, not just on field but also how the group meshes together,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cAnd so like always, we\u2019re gonna be thoughtful and careful about what we potentially add to that dynamic.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lauer impresses<\/p>\n

Left-hander Eric Lauer put together his best start as a Dodger on Wednesday, limiting the Mariners to four baserunners \u2014 one error, one hit batter, one single and one walk \u2014 through six scoreless innings. <\/p>\n

The Dodgers, in need of rotation help in mid-May after a string of injuries, traded for Lauer when the Blue Jays designated him for assignment. They have won all nine games he\u2019s pitched.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman all but confirmed Wednesday that the team would be in contact…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":968404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[69110,388851,31985,2442,60561,1910,5991,21370,1266,8328,385810,11636,4712,62,3007,388852,67,132,68,15613],"class_list":["post-968403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-andrew-friedman","tag-big-name-player","tag-deadline","tag-dodgers","tag-friedman","tag-game","tag-july","tag-knee-injury","tag-mlb","tag-ohtani","tag-orthovisc-injection","tag-rotation","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-sports","tag-team","tag-trade-deadline-approach","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wednesday"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117007307609772375","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968403","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=968403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/968404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=968403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=968403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=968403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}