Shohei Ohtani is back. The Los Angeles Dodgers slotted him into his usual spot — leadoff, DH — for Monday’s series opener against the Cincinnati Reds, ending what became the longest absence of his time with the club: four games out with a left knee issue, right biceps soreness, and a neck problem. The hitter is back. The pitcher, at least for 2026, is not.
How the Absence Started
On September 3rd, in the final out of a rough night against the Cardinals — 0-for-4 with four strikeouts — Dave Roberts noticed something he didn’t like. Between at-bats, Ohtani was shaking out his right arm. He was grimacing. His swings weren’t his. The next day, he was out of the lineup.
Roberts was blunt about it after the game: «I saw what everybody saw. I saw the arm shaking, I saw the grimacing, and clearly the swings aren’t his. Obviously there’s compensation.» That last word is the one that matters. When a hitter starts adjusting his mechanics to work around pain, the injury risk climbs fast.
The Dodgers weighed whether to put him on the 15-day IL — the mandatory threshold for two-way players under MLB rules — but Roberts called that threshold «more of a disincentive than anything else.» Four days of rest turned out to be enough. By Sunday he was available to pinch-hit in a 7-5 win over the Nationals. Tonight he starts.
What’s Coming Back — and What Isn’t
The pitching version of Ohtani is done for the year. His last start came on July 3rd. In 14 outings this season he was extraordinary: 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, striking out 27.9% of the batters he faced. His xERA sat at 2.73 — nearly identical to his actual ERA — meaning the results weren’t a fluke. He was just that good. The workload and the calendar have led Roberts to rule him out as a pitching option the rest of the way.
At the plate, the numbers are still elite. Ohtani enters Monday hitting .279 with a .906 OPS, 30 home runs, and 80 RBI over 129 games. His Statcast profile is equally impressive: a 93.2 mph average exit velocity (97th percentile), a 15.8% barrel rate (also 97th percentile), and a 51.7% hard-hit rate (95th percentile). When he makes solid contact, he hits the ball harder than almost anyone in the majors.
The short-term concern is a real one, though. Before the rest, Ohtani was batting just .137 over his last 13 games. Four days off could reset him. Or they might not. Roberts was measured on Sunday: «I think the four days have been beneficial. We’re just going to go day-to-day and make sure we don’t get to the point where he was four or five days ago.» Dodgers fans will be reading those two words — day-to-day — very carefully over the next few weeks.
Chase Burns on the Other Side
Ohtani’s return sets up a marquee matchup. On the mound for Cincinnati is 23-year-old Chase Burns, who in his first full big-league season is 15-3 with a 2.79 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 171 strikeouts in 145.1 innings. The Reds have already put an innings limit on him — he’s already logged more than 30 innings beyond his full 2025 workload — so Brandon Williamson will follow him in a piggyback arrangement by design, not necessity.
Cincinnati arrives at Dodger Stadium last in the NL Central at 69-74, but they’ve won 7 of their last 10. The Dodgers, at 86-57, hold the second-best record in baseball and are chasing a third straight World Series title. This is the first series between these two teams all season, with seven of the next ten games scheduled between them.
Ohtani’s 2026 Numbers at a Glance
At the plate (592 plate appearances):
- 30 home runs · 80 RBI
- AVG: .279 · OPS: .906
- xwOBA: .401 (99th percentile)
- 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)
- Whiff rate: 12th percentile — one of the toughest to strike out in MLB
On the mound (14 starts, 85.2 innings):
- Record: 8-2 · ERA: 1.79 · WHIP: 0.95 · xERA: 2.73
- 95 strikeouts · 26 walks (27.9% K rate)
- Fastball: 97.8 mph avg · 2,459 rpm spin rate (93rd percentile velocity)
- Whiff rate: 30.4% · Opponents batting .180
- Average exit velocity allowed: 87.4 mph · Barrel rate allowed: 3.8% (94th percentile barrel avoidance)
