Shohei Ohtani was not in the Los Angeles Dodgers starting lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field.
Ohtani is day to day with left knee inflammation, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the two-way superstar could play this weekend and remains in line to make his next scheduled start on the mound Wednesday.
Ohtani was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning of Thursday night’s 8-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Roberts downplayed the injury afterward, saying the move was precautionary because the Dodgers did not want to risk Ohtani being injured further.
Roberts also said he was optimistic Ohtani would be ready to face the Sox on Friday in the matchup of division leaders, but Alex Call was in the leadoff spot for the Dodgers and Santiago Espinal stepped in as the designated hitter in place of the slugger.
“He’s doing fine today,” Roberts said before Friday’s game. “We got some pictures. There was no findings. It’s just the normal wear and tear. I thought initially it was a hamstring, it was the knee. So it just kind of got upset, swelled up a little bit.”
Ohtani, 31, is batting .305 with 13 homers and 40 RBIs in 67 games for the NL West leaders. On the mound, the reigning NL MVP is 6-2 with a 1.06 ERA in 11 starts.
Ohtani had surgery on his left knee in September 2019. Roberts said the swelling is in the back of the knee.
“That’s where a lot of the swelling with the knee kind of like builds,” Roberts said. “But again his range of motion today is good, and so if it was another time in the season he’d be in there tonight.”
Ohtani did not speak with the media before the game.
