The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to roll through their schedule right now.
On Monday, in their series opener with the Cincinnati Reds, LA won by a score of 6-3, thanks to Teoscar Hernandez’s three-run home run, among other things. It was Shohei Ohtani’s first game back in the lineup for the past five games. Ohtani went 0-for-3 with a walk, so his slump continues.
After the Reds game, Shohei Ohtani made an honest admission about his pitching status for the remainder of the season.
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Shohei Ohtani Makes Honest Admission After Reds Game
After Monday night’s game, Shohei Ohtani spoke with Dodgers reporters and made the announcement that he will focus on hitting for the remainder of the season.
@FabianArdaya wrote (via X.com):
“Shohei Ohtani, through Will Ireton, said he is focusing on hitting for the rest of 2026.”
MLBTR.com’s Mark Polishuk wrote (about Ohtani’s pitching status) earlier today (on 9/7):
“Ohtani himself (though an interpreter) told The Athletic’s Katie Woo and other reporters that he will concentrate just on hitting for the remainder of the season. While not pitching is “disappointing,” Ohtani said “the thing I was more focused on was to make sure that the pitching wouldn’t cause the most worst scenario, which was for me to not be able to play at all.“
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More on Shohei Ohtani’s Pitching Status
Well… it sounds like Shohei Ohtani broke the news that we all already knew: the Dodgers’ two-way superstar will NOT pitch again this season.
The biggest thing the Dodgers need from Ohtani is for him to be healthy enough to DH every day and be productive while at it.
This development also certainly puts his pitching future in jeopardy, because it’s clearly a large workload for Mr. Ohtani to do both.
With that being said, the Dodgers starting rotation is already loaded, so they don’t necessarily need his pitching services, although he had a stellar stint on the mound from May to July.
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Los Angeles Dodgers Star Shohei Ohtani Makes Honest Admission Following Reds Game