A lingering knee problem will keep the Dodgers’ two-way sensation out of next week’s Midsummer Classic.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani will have his left knee drained Sunday to relieve persistent irritation, and the procedure will force him to miss next week’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
Ohtani will have fluid removed from his left knee following a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in which he will continue to start at designated hitter. Ohtani was scheduled to pitch Friday night, but instead left with a 381-foot homer to left center after the Dodgers decided to make it a bullpen game to avoid further aggravating lingering discomfort in his left knee.
“The goal is to be able to throw on schedule,” Ohtani said through an interpreter afterward. losing 9-3. “Even though I could have started today, it still would have pushed the envelope a little bit. But the goal, every goal of mine, is to use the off days to make sure I’m in a good place to be able to be in the rotation.”
Ohtani has been dealing with this disease for at least a month. The right one had a brief outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 11 due to inflammation in the knee.
“He’s handled it pretty well,” manager Dave Roberts said before Friday’s game. “If there’s a chance that we can be proactive and take it down and do whatever we need to do to manage it, along with the rest of it for the All-Star break, we’d do it.”
The four-time MVP has once again been one of the best players in the big leagues this season, and he stands alone as a two-way player.
Ohtani is hitting .290 with 21 homers and 57 RBI and is 8-2 on the mound with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings. However, his effectiveness as a pitcher has diminished somewhat in Ohtani’s last four starts. He allowed 12 earned runs in 24 2/3 innings in a span corresponding to the irritation of the left knee. Ohtani had given up five runs in his first 10 starts.
“I think our hope is if we can (have Ohtani) not make this start and (and) get the inflammation out, you know, get stronger, heal physically, then I think he should be in a much better place,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers do not expect the procedure to affect Ohtani’s availability as a pitcher in the second half of the season, but Roberts said it was too early to know where he would slot into the Dodgers’ six-man rotation after the All-Star break. Los Angeles begins an East Coast road trip next Friday with a three-game set against the New York Yankees.
Ohtani’s absence will be a blow to the summer baseball showcase at Citizens Bank Park. The Japanese star — who turned 32 earlier this week — is among the game’s most popular players and led MLB in jersey sales last year.
He hit His 300th career homer Tuesday nighta first hit against Colorado’s Michael Lorenzen that made him the first Japanese-born player in the majors to accomplish the feat.
Since then, the Dodgers are the two-time defending World Series champions adding Ohtani in free agency to a record 10-year contract in December 2023.
Los Angeles has the best record in baseball at 61-34. Being in contention to reach the major leagues’ first three-peat since the 1998-2000 Yankees affected Ohtani’s willingness to miss the All-Star Game, especially to adjust to the demands of hitting and hitting regularly for the first time since 2023. He has never played in MLB as a complete doubles player.
“Nothing is going to come in the way of being healthy for October,” Roberts said. “For him to accept and miss a start in the best interests of himself and the team, that’s not a surprise.”
St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Iván Herrera was appointed as a substitute to the National League All-Star team on Friday after Ohtani was ejected from the game.
By DAN GREENSPAN Associated Press
AP Baseball Writer David Brandt contributed to this report.
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