LOS ANGELES -- With every game that Shohei Ohtani misses, the possibility of the two-way superstar landing on the injured list grows.
Ohtani was out of the starting lineup for the third straight day for Saturday night's game against the Nationals at Dodger Stadium. He is managing multiple health concerns, including lingering issues with his left knee, right biceps and neck.
While Ohtani is considered day to day, the Dodgers have no expectation of when he could return to the lineup. He is expected to hit in the cage on Saturday, and how he feels after that will help inform the Dodgers how to proceed from here.
Now that Ohtani has been out of action for three days -- the maximum length of time that an IL stint can be backdated -- L.A. must weigh whether it makes sense to make an IL move with Ohtani imminently. The minimum-length IL stint for two-way players is 15 days, like with pitchers -- which manager Dave Roberts said was somewhat of a "deterrent" as the team mulls over the decision.
"If it doesn't feel good today," Roberts said, "then [the IL] certainly should be on the table."
Dating back to June, Ohtani has dealt with multiple lingering physical issues, including left knee soreness that has been the primary reason that he has not pitched since July 3. A right biceps issue first affected him as a hitter, then went on to affect his pitching ramp-up. He showed visible discomfort in the last game he started on Wednesday, going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, with Roberts later revealing that Ohtani's neck was bothering him.
Ohtani has not spoken to the media since Aug. 17 in Colorado, declining multiple requests for comment in that span.
Since Ohtani restarted a throwing program on Aug. 8, he is hitting .204 (19-for-93) with a .704 OPS. He has struck out 32 times in that span. Overall this season, Ohtani has a .906 OPS with 30 homers and a 1.79 ERA in 14 pitching starts.
Roberts was unsure whether Ohtani felt notably better from a physical standpoint after getting two games off, but he has noticed a difference in the two-way superstar's demeanor. The intention is for Ohtani to use his time off to recover physically, but the mental break could be good for him as well.
While the chance of Ohtani going on the IL appears higher than it was days ago, the Dodgers could bank on the possibility of him improving before his 15 days would be up. They would rather not be without him as an option at all for that span of time, but if they stand pat, they would be a position player short until Ohtani feels well enough to play again.
"There's a chance … that we could almost just be in bed with the idea that whether it's six, seven, eight days -- [it's] better than [15] days," Roberts said, "if he's trending in the right direction."