What Shohei Ohtani’s Mysterious Injury Means for the Dodgers

Ohtani will miss the All-Star Game due to a knee injury.

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani will miss his next start and the All-Star Game due to a knee injury. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Shohei Ohtani may not be on a mound for a while.

The Dodgers announced the four-time MVP would miss his scheduled start against the Diamondbacks on Friday and that he wouldn’t participate in the All-Star Game next week in Philadelphia. It’s a midseason bombshell as the 32-year-old is having his best year on the mound since his MLB debut back in 2018.

The Dodgers’ statement regarding the injury is as follows:

Shohei Ohtani will not make his scheduled start on the mound this evening against the D-Backs due to continued irritation in his left knee. He will serve as the designated hitter the rest of the weekend, but following the series against the D-Backs he will have some interventions on his knee to put him in the best position for the second half of the season. Unfortunately, due to these events, he will not be able to travel to Philadelphia and participate in the 2026 All-Star Game.

Ohtani is missing the start due to “left knee irritation.” He has also recently dealt with tightness in his right bicep and blister issues on his pitching hand. He will continue to DH, but the Dodgers are seemingly making a move to take some of the load off their superstar.

Ohtani enters Friday with an 8–2 record and a 1.79 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 95 strikeouts against 26 walks in 85 2/3 innings over 14 starts. He has nearly doubled his innings total from 2025 after not pitching in ’24 following his second Tommy John surgery.

At the plate, Ohtani has been his typically excellent self. He’s slashing .290/.405/.534, with 20 home runs, 56 RBIs and a 153 wRC+. As usual, he leads all of MLB in fWAR at 6.0, though he’s only 0.1 ahead of Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.

With Ohtani out, L.A. will have to pivot its starting rotation. The team has a ton of pitchers currently on the IL, with Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Edwin Díaz the three biggest names. All three are on the 60-day IL and joined by Landon Knack, Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone, Brusdar Graterol, Ben Casparius and Jake Cousins.

That’s quite a list and will put pressure on the team’s remaining arms to make up for the loss.

Dodgers rotation without Shohei Ohtani

Luckily for the Dodgers, depth isn’t an issue when you boast a $400 million luxury tax payroll and a loaded farm system.

With Ohtani out, the rotation will be fronted by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is having an excellent season. The second-year MLB starter is 9–5 with a 2.49 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP through his first 16 starts and has the makings of a legit ace.

Justin Wrobleski is similarly having a great year, as he’s 10–2 with a 2.69 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP in 15 starts.

The rest of the rotation is a bit of a puzzle.

Emmet Sheehan has made 16 starts and shown good stuff, but hasn’t been consistent. He’s 5–4 with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He really struggled in June, posting a 6.00 ERA.

Roki Sasaki has similarly been an enigma. Again, the 24-year-old righty has the stuff to be a great big league pitcher, but the results haven’t been there. Though 16 starts, he is 3–5 with a 5.33 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP and 80 strikeouts against 33 walks in 81 innings. He has allowed three or more earned runs in each of his last five starts and has had persistent control issues.

The Dodgers will lean on a bullpen game with Ohtani sidelined on Friday, which may be the move in the short term. Eric Lauer has made six starts for the team since being acquired from the Blue Jays in mid-May. He has a 3.12 ERA in seven appearances for L.A. and is a low-ceiling, high-floor option for the time being.

Despite their injury woes, the Dodgers are 61–33 and boast baseball’s best record as we near the All-Star break. As long as they can get their rotation healthy for the postseason, Ohtani’s injury doesn’t feel alarming.

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