07/31/26 01:07:00
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07/31 01:05 CDT Dodgers rest Shohei Ohtani amid lingering left knee soreness
Dodgers rest Shohei Ohtani amid lingering left knee soreness
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --- Shohei Ohtani was set to return as the leadoff hitter for
the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, a day after he wasn't in the lineup because
of lingering soreness in his left knee that is keeping him off the mound.
The Dodgers open a three-game set against the Boston Red Sox.
The two-way superstar wanted to play Thursday against the Seattle Mariners,
manager Dave Roberts said, but it was the team's decision to rest him. Ohtani
told the training staff of renewed soreness after Wednesday night's 4-2 win.
"I appreciate the communication," Roberts said. "I can't read minds, the
training staff can't read minds, so just for him to communicate that then
allows for us to make a decision."
Second baseman Tommy Edman went 0 for 3 in Ohtani's place for the series
finale, a 6-2 win.
Ohtani has been dealing with knee soreness since June 11 and hasn't pitched
since July 3 while also dealing with a right biceps issue. He skipped the
All-Star Game in Philadelphia to stay home and receive a lubricant injection in
the knee.
He is still serving as the designated hitter. Ohtani was 5 for 7 combined in
his last two games against the Mariners, with a home run, four RBIs and two
runs scored.
"The last couple days he's been on base a lot more whereas the last part of the
road trip he wasn't, so there might have been a little something to that,"
Roberts said, adding that nothing occurred in the game Wednesday to precipitate
Ohtani sitting out the next day.
The Dodgers expect Ohtani to return to pitching this season, but they're not
rushing him back to the mound.
"If there was something structural, then we would be much more concerned,"
Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, said Wednesday. "The fact
that there's not and the fact that it does keep improving suggests that we're
on the right path."
For now, the team doesn't have any plans to shut down Ohtani entirely to give
him time to recover from his ailments.
"We're talking about this constantly," Roberts said. "Nothing should be off the
table and nothing is set in stone. So I think it's more of how he feels. With
this new information we've got to have new conversations."
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