LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani was out of the Dodgers' lineup for the second consecutive game on Wednesday night, the finale of a three-game series against the Reds at Dodger Stadium. L.A.'s everyday designated hitter has been out of the starting lineup for six of the past seven games while managing lingering injuries to his left knee and right biceps.
Ohtani missed four straight games starting last Thursday. He returned to the lineup on Monday, only to sit out Tuesday with the Dodgers looking to "build him up slowly," manager Dave Roberts said. Roberts said later that evening that he expected Ohtani to return to the lineup on Wednesday, but that did not end up being the case.
Even with Ohtani sidelined, the Dodgers have won six straight entering Wednesday.
The Dodgers are not quite considering Ohtani as day to day, but they are looking to be proactive about managing his workload for the rest of the regular season. That may mean additional days off for Ohtani down the stretch.
Ohtani has dealt with health issues since June, 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.
The deterioration of Ohtani's health and performance seemed to coincide with his buildup as a pitcher. Since he began a throwing program on Aug. 8, he is hitting .198 (19-for-96) with a .689 OPS and 34 strikeouts. Ohtani has not thrown since Aug. 28 and is expecting to be shut down from pitching for the year.
Overall this season, Ohtani has a .902 OPS with 30 homers. He has been working to get as close to feeling 100 percent as he can despite the lingering injuries, and he believes that his performance should improve going forward.
But Ohtani acknowledged that even with taking pitching off his plate, recovering physically is more difficult while he's actively playing in games.
"Of course the best mode of recovery is to completely not play," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton on Monday. "But right now, I just want to make sure that I'm playing, playing well and just focusing on the now."