Shohei Ohtani’s latest injury scare just added another layer of concern for the Los Angeles Dodgers. During Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, the two-way star appeared to tweak his knee after scrambling back to third. To make matters worse, he was hit by a pitch on his right elbow. While concerns peaked that these incidents could lead to further setbacks, Dave Roberts offered his take on Ohtani’s health.
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“Shohei Ohtani got hit in the right elbow by a pitch,” Dodgers Nation uploaded a short clip on social media. “He looked visibly frustrated for a few moments after, but went to 1B and is remaining in the game.”
Afterward, the Dodgers manager clarified, “He was OK on the hit-by-pitch.”
The Dodgers were hosting the Cardinals for the series opener, and the visitors had been ahead since the second inning. By the time they reached the top of the fifth, the Cardinals were leading 9-3.
In the bottom of the inning, Ohtani singled, allowing Alex Freeland to reach second. After one out, Mookie Betts came to the plate and recorded a double. Freeland scored, and Ohtani tried to score as well. However, third-base coach Dino Ebel gave him a late stop sign, forcing the Japanese superstar to retreat to third.
While doing so, he made a hard slide into the bag, and a chill went down the spine of the Dodgers fans seeing their favorite hero lying on the ground for a while. He eventually got up, but he was in visible pain. It looked like he was stretching his leg a little and experiencing some discomfort in his right knee.
Notably, his left knee has been dealing with inflammation and soreness for some time. While it was initially speculated to be caused by his baserunning, Ohtani himself clarified that it was due to his flawed pitching mechanism, and it eventually got to the point where the Dodgers had to shut him down from pitching. He has had an Orthovisc lubricant injection to help his knee get better, but the 4x MLB MVP hasn’t pitched since July 3.
Coming to the present day, Roberts said he didn’t hear anything from Ohtani regarding his knee after the slide. Since Ohtani continued playing, the manager didn’t appear too concerned about it.
But the slide wasn’t the only point of concern on Tuesday. In the bottom of the seventh, Ohtani appeared at the plate again, and the first pitch from Cardinal reliever Justin Bruihl was an 89-mph sinker. It hit Shohei in the right elbow.
He tried to get out of the way, but just couldn’t make it in time. His bat dropped, and the pain and frustration were apparent on his face. And yet again, the 32-year-old continued to play. He even scored from Will Smith’s double to make it 11-5.
But Roberts eventually replaced him with Alex Call in the eighth, and the Dodgers, despite mounting a comeback in the ninth, ultimately lost 13-8.
“You know, he came in today in really good spirits,” Roberts said during the interview. “I do think that the off day, not throwing for a couple of days, I do think his arm feels pretty good.”
The manager’s positive update should offer enough of a boost for the fans. Yet, the concerns aren’t over just yet. Every loyalist desperately wants to see Shohei Ohtani get better before the Dodgers reach October.