‘Right thing to do.’ Dodgers put Shohei Ohtani on injured list after rout of Reds
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The Dodgers departed Wednesday for their final multi-city trip of the regular season with their magic number to clinch a fifth straight division title at six, meaning their first champagne shower of the year could come as early as Sunday in Miami.
But Shohei Ohtani won’t be there to enjoy it. The Dodgers put the four-time MVP on the injured list for the first time after Wednesday’s 14-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds and called up top prospect Josue De Paula to take his place. De Paula, 21, who slashed .302/.400/.539 with 26 homers and 31 stolen bases at double-A Tulsa, will make his major league debut Friday as the Dodgers’ designated hitter.
“Talking to Shohei, the doctors, the training staff, it’s the right thing to do,” manager Dave Roberts said of shelving Ohtani for the next two weeks. “We tried to kick the can as much as we could. It’s more of let’s take the 15 days and get him reset, get him feeling better, and then build him back up to get the best of him for the postseason.”
Ohtani, the team leader in home runs (30) and RBIs (80), hasn’t had one of either since Aug. 18. He’s had just nine at-bats this month while battling lingering injuries to his left knee, right biceps, neck and left hip. The right arm is the biggest issue, Roberts said. Ohtani played Monday and took a swing that “didn’t feel great,” the manager said, which led to the decision to shut him down.
Ohtani will remain in Los Angeles to consult with doctors during the Dodgers’ seven-game trip. He will be eligible to return to the roster in 15 days, giving him the final week of the regular season to get ready for the playoffs.
The Dodgers won the World Series last season without a playoff bye, but this season star Shohei Ohtani is batting injuries and really needs the rest.
“My assumption would be he would be shut down for two, three days just to kind of calm it down. And then slowly ramp back up because now we do have time,” Roberts said.
Roberts said he’s had second thoughts about not putting Ohtani on the IL last week and faces the likelihood that the Dodgers will enter the postseason with their most important player diminished.
“You’re talking about two weeks, 14 days. That’s substantial. He’ll be in a much better place than he was today. Is it going to be 100%? Probably not,” Roberts said. “But I do think that you know, with this time that we’re taking now, he’ll be in an adequate spot to finish the season.”
“If the playoffs were tomorrow,” Roberts added, “he’d be in the lineup. There’s got to be some at-bats taken before the playoffs, and he understands that. So I’m pretty confident that he’ll be ready to go on that 15th day.”
Roberts said Ohtani was in agreement with the decision but was disappointed at not being able to play.
The Dodgers clearly are limping toward the end of the season with Freddie Freeman, the team’s top hitter, joining Ohtani on the sideline Wednesday. Freeman, who also leads the Dodgers in games played and at-bats, is hitting .136 in September while dealing with a right knee issue.
Neither Ohtani nor Freeman spoke to reporters Wednesday, but the Dodgers soldiered on without them, scoring their most runs since June 27. The Dodgers extended their winning streak to a season-high seven games and improved to a season-best 32 games over .500.
The margin of victory matched the team’s largest and made a winner of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who scattered three hits over seven innings while equaling a career high with 10 strikeouts and notching a career-best 13th victory.
He left to a standing ovation from the fans behind the third-base dugout.
Yamamoto got a ton of support with Mookie Betts finishing with three hits, including his 19th home run of the season, and three runs scored. Kyle Tucker also had three hits, including a homer, and scored twice, while Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández — who has a 10-game hitting streak — had two hits each. Kiké Hernández also drove in four runs, one shy of his season total coming into the game.
Tucker said the absence of Ohtani and Freeman didn’t add any urgency to the Dodgers’ performance.
“We treat all the games the same, regardless of who’s in lineup or who’s on mound,” Tucker said. “The guys on the bench, we have the utmost confidence in them, whether they end up starting some games or coming into games.”
Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup again Tuesday, as the Dodgers ease him back into regular play after four days off.
Then there are the guys who can’t come into games. With Ohtani joining four other key injured players — center fielder Andy Pages, backup catcher Dalton Rushing, closer Edwin Díaz and right-hander Roki Sasaki — Roberts is running out of time to get his team healthy for the playoffs, where they’ll be facing teams a lot better than the last-place Reds.
“It’s just how to get guys back, but give them enough time to prepare for the postseason,” Roberts said.
That time, however, is running out.
Times staff writer Maddie Lee contributed to this report.
