Shohei Ohtani looked well on his way to becoming one of the leading contenders for the Cy Young Award this season, but recurring knee discomfort is slowly derailing his pursuit. Even three weeks after his last start, the Los Angeles Dodgers have yet to bring him back to the mound, and the latest update signals yet another setback for the team.

“Dave Roberts said Ohtani ‘kicked the can’ on his scheduled bullpen session today. Ohtani’s knee didn’t feel 100%. #Dodgers,” the Dodgers Talk host, David Vassegh, said on his X post. 

Ohtani was scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday after feeling discomfort during a 30-pitch planned session on Wednesday in Philadelphia. In fact, the Dodgers manager admitted that his recovery is still “not ideal.” As a result, Saturday’s bullpen session was also postponed because of his lingering knee issue.

“Like I said yesterday, we’re not going to move forward until he feels 100% confident, we feel 100% confident that he should do it,” Dave Roberts said.

He admitted that Shohei Ohtani was experiencing “a little bit of regression.”

With a 1.79 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, Ohtani is still one of the best starters in MLB. Having said that, the two-way superstar last pitched on July 3 against the San Diego Padres.

However, his knee issue actually traces back to June 11, when he was pulled midway through a Pittsburgh Pirates game. It was initially attributed to his baserunning, but Ohtani later disclosed that it was actually his flawed pitching mechanics that caused the discomfort. 

And given the fact that this issue brought back memories of his congenital bipartite patella and the surgery from 2019, the Dodgers have been cautious ever since. Ohtani even decided to skip the All-Star Game to focus on his recovery, but it appears that he still needs more time to become 100%. 

However, one saving grace amid all this is that hitting and running do not have any negative impact on his knee, and the Dodgers have been using him as the DH in the meantime. Shohei Ohtani is slashing .286/.392/.527 with a .920 OPS this season. He has already recorded 22 HRs and 61 RBIs. 

Additionally, his latest setback comes only a day after veteran analyst Rob Parker argued that Ohtani should be relieved from pitching duties.

“Not only should they shut him down from pitching for the rest of the season, but forever! Enough with the pitching,” he said.

While this is not the ideal solution for his Cy Young campaign, given the current circumstances, it may be the better alternative. Pushing Ohtani to pitch carries greater risks.

As Dave Roberts promised during the Dodgers’ White House visit, the team is “going for a three-peat.” To accomplish that, they’ll need a healthy Shohei Ohtani.