After fully recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, Shohei Ohtani hoped to have a great pitching season. But the road has not been smooth for him. Multiple minor injuries, including biceps tightness and a blister on his throwing hand, plagued him throughout the first half. However, his knee irritation has continued to trouble him in short stretches in the first half and even now. To deal with the lingering issue, the Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, has revealed the team’s plans regarding Ohtani.

“We just want to give it the best chance to get into a good spot,” said Roberts, according to Dodgers Nation. “It’s the pitching and the torque, and landing on the leg that gets it upset.

“It’s not going to be a day-to-day thing. Once we move Emmett [Sheehan], the rotation can keep going forward without Shohei for the time being.”

“I guess anything is possible, but I don’t think that’s a possibility,” Roberts said when a reporter asked him if he would not pitch this season.

The Dodgers have shut down Ohtani from pitching for an indefinite period. Roberts made it clear that Ohtani will not be pitching on Wednesday. They have pushed Emmett Sheehan to Monday, and the rotation will continue without the Japanese phenom. However, Ohtani will still be taking his DH duties regularly.

The Dodgers and Ohtani have concluded that his knee does not get irritated while hitting. But it does during pitching. They have found that landing on the troubled leg after completing the pitching motion irritates Ohtani’s knee more. So, they have shut him up for now.

Ohtani has posted stellar numbers from the mound this season. He holds an 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA across 14 starts. He was eyeing the NL Cy Young Award, but he will probably have to miss out this year as well. With Ohtani, the Dodgers are aiming to have him completely healthy during the postseason, when they chase their third straight World Series title.

“I think that No. 1, he’s always said, we’ve always said, the goal is October, for all of our players,” Roberts reportedly said. “With that, yeah, he’s had the Cy Young in mind, and understandably so. But nothing is going to come in front of being healthy for October.”

Ohtani has missed a game earlier in the season due to his knee injury. The two-way star has now also missed the All-Star Game in 2026 due to the same issue. He also received a knee injection over the All-Star break to help improve his condition. Ohtani was playing catch after receiving the injection as the Dodgers assessed the situation and decided to shut him down from pitching.

As Ohtani remains shut down from pitching for the foreseeable future, the Dodgers will hope to get him back in October.