Los Angeles Dodgers Make Sudden Shohei Ohtani Change Amid Injury Concerns

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 06: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers gets ready to bat in the dugout during the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium on September 6, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

The MLB regular season is winding down, and for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the biggest concern right now is whether superstar Shohei Ohtani is actually healthy.

Ohtani missed four consecutive games before returning to the lineup for the series opener against the Cincinnati Reds while dealing with a biceps and neck issue. He’s also still sidelined from pitching because of a knee injury.

He then missed Tuesday’s game as what seemed like simply a precautionary measure, as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani would likely return to the lineup Wednesday night.

“He (Shohei) was available,” Roberts said after Tuesday’s game. “If it was a tied game, if we were down, he would’ve hit, but he’ll be in there tomorrow.”

Now, things have suddenly changed.

Dodgers Announce Ohtani Change

L.A. released its starting lineup for Wednesday’s series finale against the Reds, and nowhere to be found was Ohtani. If he remains out, he’ll miss his sixth game in the last week, giving fans plenty of reason to remain concerned about whether Ohtani will be at his best come playoff time.

Here’s the full Dodgers lineup:

Via Underdog MLB: “Dodgers 9/9 T. Edman CF W. Smith DH M. Betts SS M. Muncy 3B T. Hernández LF K. Tucker RF H. Feduccia C A. Freeland 2B E. Hernández 1B Y. Yamamoto SP.”

Dodgers 9/9

T. Edman CF
W. Smith DH
M. Betts SS
M. Muncy 3B
T. Hernández LF
K. Tucker RF
H. Feduccia C
A. Freeland 2B
E. Hernández 1B

Y. Yamamoto SP

— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) September 9, 2026

Ohtani’s Recent Struggles

Since the biceps injury first arose and the Dodgers brought it to light, Ohtani simply hasn’t been himself at the plate.

He posted a .795 OPS in August, which marked his worst month during his first three seasons with the Dodgers. While that’s still solid, Ohtani is used to being one of the best pure hitters in baseball.

Ohtani is 2-for-23 over his last six games, with 11 strikeouts, and he has just 16 regular-season games remaining. It’s still unclear whether he’ll continue to avoid an IL stint or if the Dodgers will ultimately place him on the IL and try to rest him before October.