“They can yell at me,” Dave Roberts had said, apologizing to Shohei Ohtani fans, and that’s exactly what they are doing now. The Los Angeles Dodgers finally placed the two-way star on the injured list after spending weeks trying to keep him on the active roster despite his knee and bicep issues. They even gave him a brief reset, but it didn’t help much. Now that they have decided to go with the inevitable, fans are letting their feelings be known over the delay in their response.

“It’s the right thing to do, we tried to kick the bucket as much as we could,” Roberts said after the decision to put Ohtani on the IL and recall Josue De Paula.

Shohei Ohtani missed six of the Dodgers’ last seven games due to issues in his right biceps and left knee. They initially put him on day-to-day, and he missed four games. After he came back, the Japanese superstar went 0-for-3 against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. In fact, it also renewed right-arm discomfort. Then he missed the two remaining games of that series, and LA eventually put him on a 15-day IL that the fans think should have been done a long time ago. 

Ohtani has been struggling with knee discomfort for some time. Initially, people assumed that it was a result of his baserunning, but the two-way star later acknowledged that it stemmed from his flawed pitching technique. While he expected it to eventually heal, that wasn’t the case, and he was shut down from pitching duties after his last start on July 3.

He even got a lubricant injection in his knee, but it wasn’t enough to get him back on the mound. The 32-year-old even skipped the All-Star Game to ensure some recovery. That, too, turned out to be insufficient.

In the meantime, he developed some issues in his biceps too. Although it subsided quickly, it kept bothering him again, but both Ohtani and the Dodgers were confident that he could continue as a DH. And he did continue with the bat for a while. 

But during their series against the St. Louis Cardinals, he took a hard slide back to third base and was seen experiencing some discomfort in his right knee. Things got worse after he suffered an HBP to his right elbow in the same game. The pain on his face was impossible to ignore.

While he continued as DH, there was a notable decline in his swing, and the way he was wincing and shaking his arm later in that series only raised the concerns. The Dodgers eventually put him on day-to-day, but many questioned if that was the right decision. 

Insider Katie Woo even wondered whether “maybe Shohei wasn’t as honest with how much discomfort he was in.” 

Roberts admired Ohtani’s will to carry on with the team, but he admitted that his pushing through the discomfort while he’s struggling with the bat isn’t really helping anyone. And now that they have been forced to make the tough decision, the fans refuse to take it as the right one. 

Loyalists turn on Dave Roberts and the Dodgers

“The team really f***ed this up,” a fan commented on the post from Dodgers Nation. “They should’ve done it a long time ago, and let’s hope there’s no permanent damage. And what’s his injury? Doc is really vague on that and how much under 100% he’ll be when he comes off the IL.”

According to MLB, he is expected to be back as a hitter by late September, but fans are worried about how prepared he will be upon his return. And the fact that people are still not fully aware of his actual issue isn’t helping calm their frustration even one bit.

“Wouldn’t it have been better to go on the IL when you declined the All-Star Game?” one fan asked. “Unfortunately, the coaching staff and front office are incompetent, so they forced Ohtani to overexert himself, making things even worse. If Roberts had made a decision sooner, we wouldn’t have ended up with results like this.”

Shohei Ohtani wanted to be on the roster, and the Dodgers didn’t want to lose their biggest star in the middle of the season. But the way it only got worse is now earning them a lot of heat from the fans. 

“They should have put him on the IL months ago….[EXPLETIVE] IDIOTS!” read another comment. 

However, not everyone is taking it negatively. One loyalist said, “Should’ve been done a while ago, but it makes me excited to see some young blood.”

Josue De Paula will take over the DH duties. During his first full Double-A campaign, the 21-year-ols posted a .303/.401/.547 slash line, along with 27 homers, 104 RBIs, and 106 runs. Although his speed is considered below average, he has still stolen 31 bases this season.

“Good. Let him rest. Sheesh!!!” one user commented.

LA completed their second series sweep in a row, and they are on a seven-game winning streak. More importantly, their 89-57 record puts them as the second-seeded team in the National League. If they can maintain this position without Ohtani, they will get a bye and will skip the Wild Card Series. Let’s hope it offers enough rest and time for recovery for Sho-Time.