Many baseball fans were asleep when the news officially emerged.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are placing Shohei Ohtani on the 15-day injured list.
The hope of late was that the back-to-back World Series champs would be able to keep using Ohtani as a hitter even as they shut him down from pitching the rest of the season.
Instead, it turns out that the IL was calling for Ohtani even with not all that much time left until the playoffs begin.
There are less than three weeks left in the MLB regular season. Ohtani’s health now becomes one of the most notable storylines the rest of the way.
It’s also massive news in places like Milwaukee, Atlanta and Philadelphia, where the Brewers, Braves and Phillies are waking up with improved chances of winning the National League and going to the World Series.
Shohei Ohtani Injury News
The Dodgers made it official after Wednesday night’s win over the Reds when manager Dave Roberts spoke with reporters.
“We’re going to IL Shohei,” Roberts told SportsNet LA’s postgame coverage on Thursday. “Talking to Shohei, the doctors, the training staff, it’s the right thing to do. I think with Shohei, it’s more of let’s take the 15 days and get him reset, get him feeling better, and know that we still have a week of baseball games left. And then build him back up all the while during this 15-day stint, to get the best of him for the postseason.”
That’s a key way of looking at it from Roberts, who essentially suggests that 15 days means 15 days and that there isn’t concern beyond that. Of course, it wouldn’t make sense for him to raise all the alarm bells right now, either.
The Dodgers are calling up top prospect Josue De Paula to get at bats in Ohtani’s absence, but no matter how good he is in the short term, the MLB world will be watching Ohtani’s health.
The official reasoning for the IL placement: Ohtani is meant to rest lingering injuries to his left knee and right biceps.
The rest of the baseball world is watching.
NL Playoff Standings
This injury won’t stop the Dodgers from winning the NL West, where they currently hold an 11-game lead over the San Diego Padres.
It might make it tougher for them to catch the Brewers (91-56) from their 89-57 record to be the NL’s top seed.
The Dodgers would like to keep a top-two seed and preserve a bye. The Braves are currently four-games back at 85-61.
More than that, though, all the NL’s playoff teams will now wonder if the Dodgers are a bit more beatable. Not having Ohtani on the mound was already a downturn for L.A., and now if he enters the postseason with at least the possibility of injuries weighing him down at the plate and on the bases, there’s one more reason for optimism for other fanbases.
The Brewers are a really good baseball teams. The Braves, Phillies and Cubs can all making contending cases. And if the Dodgers are weakened by this Ohtani news, that’s an upturn for everyone else in the NL.
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani News Changes NL Playoff Picture for Brewers, Braves