LOS ANGELES — Even Shohei Ohtani isn’t sure the extent of injuries to his right biceps, left knee and neck that kept him off the mound after the All-Star break and landed him on the injured list for the first time with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I haven’t been able to get a good grasp of the root cause of all this, so I think that process is going to happen during the offseason when I’m going have a little bit more time to be able to address it,” he said Friday through a translator. “As of now, it’s something I’m just going to have to manage.”
Ohtani’s health is key to the Dodgers’ hopes of winning a third consecutive World Series championship, starting Saturday against Atlanta in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
Manager Dave Roberts isn’t sure what Ohtani can deliver.
“I know that once the lights turn on, the postseason starts, the focus will be heightened,” he said. “I expect good things. I really do. We just haven’t seen it enough for me to forecast it.”
The two-way superstar came off the IL with just five games remaining in the regular season. He was 5 for 21 with eight strikeouts, a walk and a double.
The Dodgers have said Ohtani is feeling better since his return, and Roberts believes his at-bat quality showed improvement.
“(My body) feels really good overall,” Ohtani said. “I do feel like my swing is in a better place — it feels smooth. Just little tweaks here and there and I’ll be ready.”
Ohtani was single when he went on the IL twice during his six years with the Los Angeles Angels. He’s now married and a father of two, with his son arriving in late June to join a daughter born in April 2025.
“If I’d been by myself this time, I probably would have had a lot more time to think about everything, and I imagine it would have been much harder mentally,” he said in Japanese. “But I had a house full of people around me, so that made a big difference in terms of how I felt.”
Ohtani throws right-handed and bats left-handed. He explained that he was better able to use his left arm with his daughter. His infant son, however, requires two arms to hold, which limited him because of the injury to his right biceps.
Ohtani took live batting practice against countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto earlier in the week. The last time they’d faced each other was in 2017 in Nippon Professional Baseball, when Ohtani struck out and singled off Yamamoto.
“I think it was a valuable experience for both of us in terms of getting some game-like repetitions. I got to take a few at-bats and see all of his different pitches,” Ohtani said in Japanese. “It was a lot of fun. It felt fresh and exciting. His stuff also felt quite different from what I remembered.”
Braves’ strained rotation
The Braves’ rotation is seriously strained coming into the Division Series.
Their three-game win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card Series forced ace Chris Sale into pitching the final four outs on short rest Thursday night. He threw 95 pitches while starting Game 1, leaving his possible start against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLDS up in the air.
“A lot of it’s going to depend on how Chris feels. Certainly don’t want to jeopardize him and his health,” manager Walt Weiss said Friday. “He’s had to grind here recently, so we’re going to err on the side of giving him more rest, if it’s even close.”
On Thursday, the Braves ruled out starters Martín Pérez (back) and Bryce Elder (knee) for the NLDS.
“There’s a chance we’re going to have to pitch a lot of innings out of our bullpen, especially the first couple games,” Weiss said. “We’ll have to add some arms to the roster.”
The Braves had a late night after eliminating the Phillies and then traveling Friday to Los Angeles, where the Dodgers have been resting and preparing for five days.
“My world is spinning right now,” Weiss said.
High heat
Los Angeles is under an extreme heat warning, and it’s expected to continue into late next week.
Saturday’s forecast calls for a high temperature of 100 degrees (38 Celsius) for the day game, when Tarik Skubal takes the mound for the Dodgers. The average high in early October is 81 degrees.
“I know the pitchers are going to have a hard time,” Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani said. “I’m wishing all the best for Scooby.”
Skubal grew up in Kingman, Arizona, where the average July temperature is 96 degrees (35 Celsius). He said he’ll drink plenty of water Saturday.
“You’re just not going to the bathroom because you’re probably sweating it out,” he said.
Sunday’s game begins at 8 p.m. EDT but conditions won’t be much better, with a projected high of 99 degrees.
The highest game-time temperature ever recorded at Dodger Stadium is 103 degrees (39 Celsius), recorded twice. The first time was Oct. 24, 2017, for Game 1 of the World Series against Houston. It was equaled on Sept. 8, 2024, for a regular-season game against Cleveland.
The Dodgers are encouraging fans to wear hats and sunscreen. They’re allowed to bring in non-alcoholic drinks of one liter or less in factory-sealed plastic bottles. Empty refillable water bottles are allowed. Bottle filling stations and water fountains are scattered around the stadium.
