Clearly Still Hurting, Dodgers Can’t Afford This Version of Shohei Ohtani Much Longer

DODGER STADIUM (Los Angeles, CA) — Before Wednesday’s game, manager Dave Roberts finally acknowledged the obvious. For much of the last couple of months, the Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani have insisted the knee and bicep issues preventing the two-way star from pitching weren’t impacting him as a hitter. But they can no longer pretend. Not after Ohtani’s 0-for-4, grimace-inducing night against St. Louis. Ohtani had been ramping back up as a pitcher in recent weeks and was expected to return to the mound for an inning last Sunday, but the soreness he felt in a bullpen session two days prior tabled that plan and paused his progression yet again. He hasn’t pitched in a game since July 3. Meanwhile, the more he labors to return as a two-way force, the more his body clearly aches and the more his offense suffers. On Aug. 14, he threw his first bullpen session in more than three weeks. Over 17 games since then, he’s hitting .194 with a .719 OPS. He is currently suffering through his longest stretch without a home run as a Dodger, a regrettable streak that reached 12 games on Wednesday night. That afternoon, before Ohtani’s first four-strikeout night of the year, I asked Roberts if he thinks pausing the two-way star’s pitching progression will help him as a hitter. “I do,” Roberts told me after a long pause to consider his answer. “I think that I certainly know the value of him pitching, but if you’re not 100%, there’s possibly some bleed-in to the performance offensively. That’s just me kind of theorizing. But yeah, it’s his decision, honestly. If he feels like he’s capable [of pitching], then we’ll run the play out until it doesn’t make any sense.” Wednesday night should be an indication that time has arrived. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow all healthy, there’s no reason for the Dodgers to consider putting Ohtani back on a mound in 2026. Not while he looks like this. In his final at-bat Wednesday night, Ohtani looked to be in pain, wincing and shaking out his troublesome right arm. He took a few half-hearted hacks before being sent back to the dugout with his fourth strikeout in the 10th inning of the Dodgers’ sixth loss in their last eight games. The Dodgers are now 26-27 since the start of July. They rank 21st in OPS, 24th in slugging and 26th in home runs over that stretch. Clearly, they can’t afford a hobbled version of Ohtani at the plate. And Wednesday night, Roberts acknowledged what everyone else saw: The four-time MVP’s injuries are compromising him offensively. “Clearly, the swings aren’t who he is,” Roberts said. At this point, Ohtani’s left knee — which required an injection at the All-Star break — and right biceps have been bothering him for months, yet he still hasn’t gone on the injured list since joining the Dodgers before the 2024 season. Ohtani’s only official time away from the team was a two-game hiatus on the paternity list after the birth of his first child last season. He didn’t go on the paternity list at all after welcoming his second child, missing just one game. He does not like to sit out. At some point, though, the Dodgers have to take the decision out of his hands.  On Wednesday night, Roberts at least sounded more open to that possibility. “It won’t be an IL — unless it is,” Roberts told reporters after Ohtani’s four-strikeout day. “But it’s very unlikely.” At the least, a day or two off could be in the cards. Roberts plans to have a conversation with Ohtani and the training staff before Thursday’s game. “I know that he feels he needs to post and be in the lineup and if he’s upright he should play,” Roberts said. “I respect that. But if he’s feeling the way that he visibly looks, then [it’s] really not helping anyone.” The Dodgers continue to maintain that anything Ohtani can provide as a pitcher the rest of the way is added value. But if it comes at the expense of his abilities offensively, is it really? While there’s no hard deadline for the Dodgers to make a decision on whether they’ll shut Ohtani down as a pitcher for the season, Roberts did finally acknowledge Wednesday afternoon that it’s on the table. “We’re not quite there yet,” Roberts said. “But it’s certainly an option.” It should be the only one. At this point, given that Ohtani has now been hobbled for three months, there’s no guarantee he will look 100% like himself at the plate again this year, even if he gives up on pitching, takes a day or two off or goes on the IL for a minimal stint. But they have to do anything they can to get him closer to full strength offensively. Wednesday can’t become the norm. The Dodgers and their scuffling offense can’t afford it come October.