LOS ANGELES -- The two-way show at Dodger Stadium came to an early end when Shohei Ohtani was pinch-hit for as a precaution in the seventh inning of Friday night's 4-3 comeback victory over the Padres.
Ohtani felt some tightness in his right biceps in his final at-bat in the bottom of the sixth inning, after he had completed a quality start on a season-high 110 pitches. The biceps only bothered him while he was swinging, not pitching. He said that he also dealt with a fleeting issue with the same biceps earlier in the season, and it did not bother him for long.
"It's the same location that I felt a couple months ago," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "It went away pretty relatively quickly, so I expect that to happen again. … On the swing, I did feel it, but I was able to play through it."
While Ohtani said he felt good enough to play moving forward, manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani would be out of the lineup for Saturday night's game to give him a full day to recover. The Dodgers will assess whether Ohtani needs additional time off afterward.
The previous biceps issue was so minimal that Roberts was unable to specify when exactly it happened. It did not prevent Ohtani from playing at the time.
"He's a quick healer, and finds a way to get back," Roberts said. "But I do think that for us to read and react and hear what his body is telling him is really important, given the toll it takes on his body to be a two-way player."
Ohtani's biceps issue comes when the two-way superstar is dealing with some other aches and pains. He has had some lingering soreness in his left knee, which caused him to miss one game as a hitter on June 12. He's also pitched with a blister on his right hand for much of the past month.
The Dodgers remain hopeful that Ohtani will make one more pitching start before the All-Star break, which would be on July 10 against the D-backs if he remains in turn. But it's a possibility that he does not start again in the first half if the team feels that an extended break would benefit him heading into the second half. He is already not expected to pitch in the All-Star Game due to his schedule.
"Obviously, we're not going to make that decision right now," Roberts said. "But anything should be on the table, certainly."
Ohtani is 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA, and his .927 OPS leads qualified Dodgers. Keeping him healthy and effective for the duration of the season is one of the team's biggest priorities.
Ohtani's start on Friday had been pushed back two days to give him a season-high eight days of rest. He struggled with his command to open the evening, which began with a four-pitch walk to Fernando Tatis Jr. Ohtani then missed twice more before finding the zone against Jake Cronenworth, who worked the count full before drawing another walk.
The leadoff walk came back to haunt Ohtani, as Tatis came around to score on a Gavin Sheets single. But Ohtani limited the damage by recording all three outs of the first inning via strikeout, which seemed to give him some momentum.
After Sheets' RBI single, Ohtani struck out six of his next seven hitters. He gave up another pair of runs on a Jackson Merrill solo homer in the fourth inning and a Xander Bogaerts RBI double in the sixth, in which Ohtani stranded two runners in scoring position.
While Ohtani was able to limit the damage, his performance again fell shy of the lofty standards he set through his first 10 starts. After allowing just seven runs (five earned) in 61 innings in that span, Ohtani has given up 14 runs (12 earned) in 24 2/3 innings in his past four starts.
When it comes to Ohtani, the Dodgers have learned that they have to be proactive. He is never one to take himself out of a game, as evidenced by the ailments he has played with of late.
Ohtani played through the biceps issue before, and he believes he can do it again. It's up to the Dodgers to determine whether he can do so without compromising the future.
"I can always play, and my desire is to always play," Ohtani said. "I feel good enough to be able to do so."