Jeff Passan said it plainly on SportsCenter: Shohei Ohtani is «all kinds of banged up right now,» and it’s becoming increasingly clear he won’t make another start in the 2026 regular season. His last outing was July 3. Since then, an inflamed left knee, right biceps soreness, and now a neck strain have turned him into a full-time DH. What Los Angeles is losing on the mound is no small thing: Ohtani was 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA over 85.2 innings, firmly in the National League Cy Young conversation.
Three Months of Patches, Two Failed Bullpen Sessions
The trouble started June 11, when Ohtani’s left knee flared up during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Imaging showed no structural damage, the team said, but the discomfort kept building. During the All-Star break he received an Orthovisc injection — a joint lubricant — in hopes of getting him back on the mound in August. It didn’t work.
On July 22 he threw a 30-pitch bullpen session that manager Dave Roberts described as producing «regression.» A second bullpen on August 28 in Detroit — 20 pitches — left him still not feeling right. By early September, Ohtani was managing three separate issues at once: the knee, the biceps, and the neck. On September 4 and 5 he was out of the lineup on back-to-back days for the first time since July 30.
Passan’s report on ESPN is not an official announcement — as of September 6, the Dodgers have not placed Ohtani on the injured list, and he remains listed day-to-day. Roberts has said shutting him down as a pitcher «is an option» and that the final call belongs to Ohtani himself. But every signal is pointing in the same direction.
The 15-Day Wrinkle
There’s a roster rules complication making this even trickier. Because of his two-way player designation, any IL stint would require a minimum of 15 days — not the 10 that apply to a standard position player. That would eat into his availability as a DH down the stretch, something the Dodgers aren’t eager to give up.
And they need that bat. Since July 1, Los Angeles has posted a team .703 OPS and is averaging just 4.2 runs per game — ranking 22nd and 23rd in the league, respectively. They need their best hitter in the lineup, even if it means accepting that No. 17 is done pitching for the year.
The Postseason Picture
The rotation — Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow — has the talent to absorb the loss. The Dodgers won the 2024 World Series with Ohtani exclusively as a DH, and their staff is still considered one of the best in baseball.
But in October 2025, Ohtani hit a home run and threw six scoreless innings in the same NLCS game against Milwaukee. That version of Ohtani was what the team was counting on having again. That version is no longer available.
The Numbers Behind the Story
Ohtani plays both sides, and Statcast tracks both. Here’s where he stands in 2026:
At the plate (592 plate appearances):
- 30 home runs, 80 RBI
- AVG: .279 | OPS: .906
- xwOBA: .401 (99th percentile — elite)
- Exit velocity: 93.2 mph (97th percentile)
- Barrel rate: 15.8% (97th percentile)
- Hard-hit rate: 51.7% (95th percentile)
- Bat speed: 74.6 mph (79th percentile)
On the mound (14 starts, 85.2 innings):
- Record: 8-2 | ERA: 1.79 | WHIP: 0.95
- 95 strikeouts, 26 walks (27.9% K rate — 85th percentile)
- xERA: 2.73 (95th percentile)
- Average fastball: 97.8 mph with 2,459 rpm spin (93rd percentile velocity, 89th percentile spin)
- Whiff rate: 30.4% (85th percentile)
- Opponent batting average: .180
- Average exit velocity allowed: 87.4 mph
- Barrel rate allowed: 3.8% (94th percentile barrels avoided)
