Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani will sit out Saturday’s game after throwing 110 pitches on Friday night against the San Diego Padres with what the Dodgers are labelling a “biceps issue”.
According to the team, Ohtani felt his biceps tighten up on a swing in the bottom of the six inning, prompting manager Dave Roberts to remove him from the game. Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, told reporters that this is not the first time the issue has flared up.
The last time was “a couple of months ago”, though “”It went away relatively quickly,” Ohtani added, “so I expect that to happen again.”
While all of that may be true, the 31 year old struggled with his command on Friday night, at one point throwing 6 straight balls despite pitching on 9 days rest. On the night he would finish with a 4.50 ERA and 1.50 WHIP across 6 innings, striking out 9 batters along the way.
Ohtani told reporters that the issue only bothered him when swinging a bat, with Roberts adding that the team isn’t overly concerned about it. “He’s dealt with it before,” Roberts said. “He’s a quick healer and finds a way to get back. But I do think that for us to read and react and hear what his body is telling him is really important, given the toll it takes on his body to be a two-way player.”
Roberts didn’t rule out Ohtani skipping his next start when asked by the press following the club’s 4-3 win over the Padres. “I think it should be on the table,” Roberts said. “Obviously we’re not going to make that decision right now. But anything should be on the table, certainly.”
With the MLB All-Star break just over a week away, it’s likely Los Angeles opts to slow play Ohtani’s usage over their next 8 games. With a 14 game lead over the 2nd place Diamondbacks in the NL West, the Dodgers have little to gain by attempting to have Ohtani play through the ailment at this point.
LA will continue their series against San Diego on Saturday and Sunday before playing host to the Rockies and Diamondbacks in the lead up to the mid-summer classic.
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