Dodgers Option Josue De Paula, Officially Activate Shohei Ohtani Off Injured List

The Los Angeles Dodgers made a roster move ahead of Wednesday's game against the San Diego Padres, activating Shohei Ohtani off the 15-day injured list on the first day he's eligible to return.

In order to make room on the active roster, top prospect Josue De Paula was optioned.

De Paula will still be eligible to play in the postseason, as his earliest activation date is Oct. 3, which is Game 1 of the National League Division Series.

However, he won't remain with the big league club for the remainder of the regular season.

In addition to this move, the Dodgers activated Tarik Skubal off the bereavement list and optioned Kyle Hurt.

Shohei Ohtani Rejoins Dodgers Just Ahead of Postseason

Ohtani has returned after the minimum 15-day stint, and now has just five games to face opposing pitching and get back up to speed before the postseason.

Ohtani was struggling mightily before going on the IL for the first time as a Dodger, as it was clear his injuries were impacting him.

Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates recently conceded the four-time MVP "looked extremely compromised" due to his knee, biceps and neck injuries.

While the Dodgers knew Ohtani wouldn't be able to return to 100% health before the end of the season, manager Dave Roberts said on Tuesday that his designated hitter looks as healthy as he's been in a while.

"I would say if he was a 5 [on a scale from 1-10 before the IL stint], he's probably an 8 or a 9 right now," Roberts said.

While Ohtani's health is trending in the right direction, it's difficult for anyone to know what he'll look like upon his return.

Ohtani hasn't faced any live pitching since going on the IL, instead facing coach pitching and hitting off the Trajekt machine.

“Between [the] machine, live pitching, Trajekt, somewhere in between that, that’s the best you can do,” Bates said recently. “Then you kind of fire them out there and see what happens. Just like spring training, it kind of takes guys a little bit of time to get their footing. But it depends on the person. Every guy is a little bit different with how much time they need.”

The Dodgers will hope Ohtani, as he always seems to do, exceeds expectations. He's being thrown right back into the fire as LA chases a first-round bye over the final five days of the regular season.

Overall this season, Ohtani is hitting .277 with 30 home runs, 80 RBIs and an OPS of .902. Over his last seven games before going on the IL, he was 2-for-26 (.077) with an OPS of .327.

Why Did the Dodgers Option Josue De Paula?

As for the De Paula move, the Dodgers likely feel it will be difficult to get him opportunities to hit with Ohtani back.

Moreover, the Dodgers are thin in the infield, which is likely why the team elected to keep Alex Freeland as a second base option.

For now, De Paula will hope he did enough to earn a spot on the Dodgers' postseason roster.

Across 11 games, he hit .323 with one home run, seven RBIs, an on-base percentage of .500 and an OPS of 1.081.

Josue De Paula in 11 MLB games without taking an at-bat in Triple-A:

.323 AVG
.500 OBP
5 XBH
7 RBI
11 BB/5 K

He did everything the Dodgers could have asked for and more in replacing Shohei Ohtani.

Now, he'll hope it was enough to earn a spot on the postseason roster. pic.twitter.com/wnrJtvq0gB
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) September 23, 2026

Add us as a preferred source on Google