In the latest twist in Shohei Ohtani’s battle with left knee discomfort, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts held him out of the lineup Thursday against the Seattle Mariners.
Ohtani reported soreness Wednesday night in his left knee, which he treated over the All-Star break with a lubricating orthovisc injection and rest. So the Dodgers’ training staff recommended a day off.
“I expected him to play,” Roberts said. “I appreciate him saying that there’s some soreness to then allow me to make a decision of what is in his best interest, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Roberts said he’s “very confident” that Ohtani will be in the lineup Friday when the Dodgers open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.
But the Dodgers previously believed only pitching aggravated the injury. Ohtani hasn’t pitched in a game since July 3, and he hasn’t thrown off a mound in a little over a week. He’s been running through weighted plyo ball drills to keep his arm in shape without putting pressure on his knee.
It raises questions about how to best manage Ohtani for the rest of the season.
“I’m trying to restrain from a forecast of what’s going to happen, as opposed to just reading and reacting,” Roberts said. “Three days ago, we just had an off day, and to say there’s some soreness certainly is different than what we’ve done the last two weeks. Is it a trend? I hope not. But if it is, then we just got to manage it.”
Roberts said he didn’t believe any specific incident Wednesday aggravated Ohtani’s knee.
“The last couple days he’s been on base a lot more,” Roberts said. “So I think that’s been a good thing in one sense, whereas the last part of the road trip he wasn’t, so there might have been a little something to that.”
Ohtani also mentioned earlier this week that his biceps problem, which flared for the second time this season on July 3 during his last at-bat, has not completely subsided. But the Dodgers have downplayed the severity of that ailment and are under the impression that throwing doesn’t hurt it.
When asked if the team would consider shutting down Ohtani for 10 days to help him fully recover, Roberts said: “That’s a hard question and I understand the thought behind it. But it’s gotten better over the last few weeks, markedly. He’s been a very productive player. … You trust him. He feels like he can go.
“He’s not 100%; very few players are 100%. Then what is it? Is it 70%, is it 80%, is it 90%? For me, there’s still that conversation, where he understands the most important part of the season is to come, and he understands his value with our team.”
It doesn’t seem like the Dodgers are ready to put Ohtani on the injured list just yet. Roberts said he hopes Ohtani will start playing catch this weekend or next week.
The Dodgers, however, had expressed hope that the injection and time off over the break would prevent Ohtani from having to manage the problem. That no longer seems to be in play.
“We’re talking about this constantly, we are,” Roberts said. “And nothing should be off the table and nothing is set in stone. So I think it’s more of how he feels. This surprised me. So now with this new information we’ve got to have new conversations.”
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