Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani, who left Saturday’s game against the San Diego Padres with a back strain, will not be in the starting lineup for Sunday’s series finale at Petco Park.
However, manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani is expected to return on Monday, when the team opens its third straight game against the Giants in San Francisco, and could be a pinch-hitter option on Sunday if needed. Ta.
“Today was better,” Roberts said. “We are halfway through 13 [games] continue. He was going to get one day. So he wants to smoke a little bit and make sure it goes to bed. ”
Ohtani said he first started feeling discomfort in his back while working out before Saturday’s game. He also started in the Dodgers’ 5-0 win, allowing no hits and drawing a walk in his remaining three at-bats. But in the ninth inning, the Dodgers pinch-hit for Ohtani after Roberts said he “got a call that his back was strained.”
After the game, manager Roberts described the team’s level of concern about Ohtani’s back as “minimal” and said removing him early was a “precautionary measure.”
On Sunday morning, both the coach and the two-time MVP remained optimistic. Ohtani said through an interpreter that he “actually felt pretty good” when he woke up and was able to complete his normal pregame routine.
Was he planning on pinch-hitting if necessary?
“That’s my intention,” Ohtani said. “But I’m sure the score will decide it.”
The 29-year-old Ohtani is the Dodgers’ best player this season, with a batting average of .352 (second in the majors), 11 home runs (tied for fourth), and 27 RBIs (tied for 13th), tops in the major leagues. OPS1.090.
Ohtani has also missed just one game so far this year, on the traditional May 1st off day during a trip to Arizona.
The two-way star has been rehabilitating his pitching elbow after Tommy John surgery last year, including an every-other-day pitching program he began in late March. However, Ohtani has repeatedly stated that the disease has not affected his swing.
Roberts said Ohtani’s back issues shouldn’t affect his pitching progress either.