If there is one player the Los Angeles Dodgers can’t lose, it’s Shohei Ohtani. However, Ohtani is out once again on Sunday, now having missed four games in a row.
The silver lining? There is hope within the Dodgers that Ohtani could return to the lineup on Monday. As Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said ahead of Sunday’s game, he’s not willing to rule it out just yet.
“Until he’s written in the lineup, we don’t know 100%,” Roberts said. “But I’m hopeful.”
A knee injury has been a problem for Ohtani for months now. It’s kept him from pitching since July 3rd, as he’s struggling to land on that left knee. Still, during that time Ohtani managed to stay in the lineup as a DH. It’s discomfort in his biceps that has now caused him to miss four games for the Dodgers.
Ohtani felt good following his workout on Saturday. So, much of whether or not he’ll be in the lineup on Monday comes down to how he’s feeling during his recovery on Sunday.
That return to the field would, of course, just be as a DH. For now, it looks like a return to the mound is going to be out of reach this season for Ohtani.
“Not officially,” Roberts said of Ohtani being shut down as a pitcher. “But obviously, if you’re looking at the calendar, how much he’s thrown in the last week, I think we can all do the math.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers Haven’t Ruled Out the IL for Shohei Ohtani
A Monday return for Shohei Ohtani is what the Dodgers hope ends up happening. There’s no promise of that, though, and it’s still very possible that he ends up on the IL, as was reported on Saturday.
Via Katie Woo of The Athletic: “Shohei Ohtani is set to hit in the cage today. How he comes out of that will be telling as to if he needs an IL stint or not, Dave Roberts said. Sunday will be important as the team continues to weigh a decision.”
By all accounts, Ohtani is moving in the right direction. However, setbacks do happen and as Roberts said, until the lineup is written, nothing is 100% the case for the Dodgers.
If Ohtani does land on the IL, it’s a minimum 15-day IL stint. That’s because of his designation as a two-way player.
In many respects, Ohtani began to struggle with other health issues when he tried to get back to a position to pitch. Now, it seems like putting that much on his body is what caused the new issues to pop up.
“I do think that the no throwing, I think, is beneficial,” Roberts said. “I think that the four days has been beneficial. At that point in time, we’ll just kind of monitor day to day and make sure we don’t get to that point where it was at four or five days ago.”
This season, Ohtani is hitting .279 with a .906 OPS to go along with 30 home runs and 80 RBIs. When healthy enough to pitch, Ohtani has been elite. He has a 1.79 ERA and a 0.946 WHIP in 85.2 innings pitched.
Injuries Have Plagued the Dodgers in 2026
There is no more high-profile player on the Dodgers than Shohei Ohtani. So, his injuries tend to be the ones talked about the most. Unfortunately, he’s far from the only Dodger to be battling health issues this season.
The pitching staff was the first to get decimated by those injuries. In the rotation, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell both missed significant time this season. Then Gavin Stone hasn’t pitched at all and Roki Sasaki recently hit the IL with blisters. The bullpen has seen Edwin Diaz miss significant time as well, among other injuries to the bullpen.
The Dodgers lineup is taking its hits too. Dalton Rushing landed on the IL on Sunday. He joins Andy Pages, who suffered a fractured hand. Will Smith, Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, and Kiké Hernández have all also missed significant amounts of time this season.
Despite all of that, the Dodgers are still 85-57 going into play on Sunday. That’s first in the NL West and the second-best record in the NL, though it’s a tight battle for seeding with the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers.
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts Shares Hopes for Shohei Ohtani After Missing Game