Ohtani hits leadoff homer after being scratched from start, opting out of All-Star Game

LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his pitching start Friday against the Diamondbacks due to ongoing left knee irritation, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to build his case for a fourth consecutive MVP Award.

Serving as the Dodgers’ designated hitter in the Dodgers’ 9-3 loss, Ohtani opened the bottom of the first with a home run, his 21st of the season and eighth leadoff blast -- tied with James Wood for most in the Majors. Ohtani was jogging a bit gingerly around the bases after his solo shot.

Ohtani will DH throughout this weekend’s series at Dodger Stadium, but will not travel to Philadelphia for Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

“I found out yesterday morning,” said manager Dave Roberts. “Talking it through with our guys, Shohei. He’s been managing this quite well, the knee, and so if there’s a chance that we could be proactive and get it drained and do whatever we need to do to try to manage it, along with the rest for the All-Star break, we were going to do that.”

Roberts said Ohtani will have his knee drained on Sunday, which gives him four full days to recover before the Dodgers open the second half on July 17 against the Yankees in New York.

Roberts added that the injury would not affect Ohtani’s ability to pitch in the second half, though the team has not yet decided where he would slot back into the rotation after the break. He also said that Ohtani would have pitched through this injury if the calendar said October rather than July.

The National League’s leading vote-getter, Ohtani was slated to serve as DH for Roberts’ NL squad, but he was not going to be available to pitch. Ohtani has been nursing the knee discomfort since at least June 11, and Roberts said the team did not want to risk exacerbating the swelling with the altitude change that comes with flying. He also noted that Ohtani has cut back on his basestealing.

The four-time MVP and five-time All-Star has been navigating a few injuries this season, including a tweaked right biceps and a blister on his right hand in addition to his knee discomfort. Despite those maladies, Ohtani entered Friday sporting a .290/.405/.534 slash line with a .939 OPS to go with an 8-2 record and a 1.79 ERA, second in MLB only to Jacob Misiorowski (min. 80 IP).

Earlier this season, Ohtani had been open about his desire to add a Cy Young Award to his increasingly crowded trophy case. With Ohtani’s innings count already lagging behind other award contenders, missing even one start could hurt his chances.

Roberts said Ohtani’s willingness to miss Friday’s start is proof that he puts the team first.

“I think that No. 1, he’s always said, we’ve always said, the goal is October, for all of our players,” said the skipper. “With that, yeah, he’s had the Cy Young in mind, and understandably so. But nothing is going to come in front of being healthy for October. And so for him to concede and miss a start in the best interest of him and the team, that’s not a surprise. Those are two separate things, but No. 1 is being ready for October, and he’s always said that.”

Despite Ohtani’s overall numbers remaining on-par with his lofty expectations, his performance on the mound has noticeably dipped as he’s dealt with those injuries over the past month. After allowing seven runs (five earned) through 61 innings in his first 10 starts, Ohtani has given up 14 runs (12 earned) in 24 2/3 innings in his last four starts.

“I think he’s done a fine job [nursing the injury], but we all know that the last, call it four or five, haven’t been as crisp from him,” Roberts said. “I think that our hope is that if we can not make this start, give him a full X amount of days to kind of get the inflammation out, get strong, recover body-wise, then I think that he should be in a much better spot.”

Right-hander Kyle Hurt, who entered Friday with a 4.55 ERA in 31 relief appearances this season, opened for the Dodgers opposite NL All-Star Eduardo Rodriguez. Hurt previously had one career start, in 2024. Roberts said the bullpen would be in good shape to cover the game after Thursday’s off-day, and six more Dodgers relievers worked in the loss.