After the Los Angeles Dodgers seventh win in a row, they have decided to place Shohei Ohtani on the 15-day IL.
Ohtani missed six of those seven games, going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts on Monday, September 7.
The two-way superstar has been battling with injuries since May, and has been sidelined from pitching since July 3. Fans and analysts have noticed that Ohtani had not been playing like himself.
Now that Ohtani has finally hit the injured list, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal believes that the 32-year-old has been misleading the Dodgers about his injuries.
Ken Rosenthal Believes Shohei Ohtani Has ‘Too Much Control’ Over Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal joined Foul Territory to discuss the long awaited IL stint of Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani, recalling that his knee injury resurfaced in May.
“They never put him on the IL, they never gave him a break,” Rosenthal said of Ohtani. “Then the biceps issue surfaced, so that translated into a neck problem… and here we are, all these problems mounted. They could have put him on the IL last week before they rested him for four days… and now he will be on the IL for 15 days, and come back with only five games left in the regular season.”
Over the last week and a half, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had been hinting at the possibility of an IL stint for Ohtani, but chose to forgo that idea and instead let him “rest.” Ohtani’s first day on the bench was September 3, which was seven days ago, meaning that he would have been nearly halfway through his time on the IL.
“A lot of people have said, and I’ve wondered too, is this a case of a player having too much control?” Rosenthal continued. “And I don’t know if it’s as much that, as a player who is not communicating his physical condition well enough to the team.”
“We’ve seen this over the years with a lot of players who want to stay on the field; they basically lie about their injuries,” Rosenthal continued.
Rosenthal makes big claims about the two-way superstar, insinuating that he was downplaying his injuries over the last four to five months.
Los Angeles Dodgers Call Josue De Paula to Replace Shohei Ohtani
After the Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani finally settled with the injured list, MLB’s no. 6 overall prospect Josue De Paula will be making his debut in Miami on Friday.
“The earliest earliest [Ohtani] can return is Sept. 23. The wild-card round starts Sept. 29. The NLDS would start Oct. 3,” Dodgers beat writer Noah Camras wrote on X. “Josue De Paula will likely replace Ohtani as the everyday DH.”
The earliest he can return is Sept. 23. The wild-card round starts Sept. 29. The NLDS would start Oct. 3.
Josue De Paula will likely replace Ohtani as the everyday DH.
De Paula slashed .303/.401/.547 as a 21-year-old at Double-A this season.
Shohei Ohtani Criticized By MLB Insider For Misleading Dodgers Amid IL Stint