{"id":833256,"date":"2026-07-29T08:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T08:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/833256\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T08:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T08:16:14","slug":"ohtanis-bat-stays-hot-but-his-next-bullpen-session-waits-on-2-aching-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/833256\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohtani\u2019s bat stays hot, but his next bullpen session waits on 2 aching spots"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Shohei Ohtani<\/a> says his right biceps is not 100% in addition to his sore left knee, and both factored into the Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar not throwing a bullpen last week.<\/p>\n

The four-time MVP hasn’t pitched in a game since July 3 but has continued to play regularly as the designated hitter for Los Angeles. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy biceps is not 100%,\u201d Ohtani said through a translator Tuesday night while speaking with media for the first time since before the All-Star break. “Just similar issue with the knee. Do we consider pushing this? It is still July. So I think the conversation would be a little different if we\u2019re in August or September.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani hit his 10th leadoff home run of the season in a 7-6 loss<\/a> to the Seattle Mariners. It was his 28th leadoff shot as a Dodger, tying him with the late Davey Lopes for second all-time. Ohtani finished 3 for 4 with a walk, a double, three RBIs and a run. <\/p>\n

“I do think that the road trip was exhausting for everyone. I do think that with the day off, he came in fresh and looked more like himself,” manager Dave Roberts said. \u201cCertainly the way he swung the bat, the way he\u2019s running, he\u2019s not compromised. Until I hear otherwise, he\u2019s going to be in the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani had a lubricant injection in his knee just before the All-Star break and he skipped the game in Philadelphia to rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really took the All-Star break as that opportunity to really stay off my knees,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really something that I have to just deal with over the course of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani said in Japanese that the injection wasn’t a cure-all and he mentioned \u201ca decision that I’m going to ultimately make after the season’s over\u201d without clarifying what he was referring to. <\/p>\n

He explained the lingering knee soreness was caused by pitching.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of running, I\u2019m not exactly at 100% capacity,\u201d he said. “When I know it\u2019s not, then it\u2019s always a little harder to be aggressive on the basepath.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani said his knee is getting better, which is a priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the team has really come to a place exactly where, do I pitch through it or not?\u201d he said. “That\u2019s still really up in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Ohtani’s health issues don’t improve, Roberts was asked whether it’s possible the right-hander wouldn’t pitch in the postseason for the two-time defending World Series champions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess anything\u2019s possible, but for me, it\u2019s highly unlikely,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cGiven where we\u2019re at in the calendar, if the knee continues to get better, the arm continues to feel better, I would expect him to pitch. All I know is that we\u2019re trying to, I\u2019m trying to, give him the best opportunity to be as healthy as possible, so he can help us on both ends of the baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts said when Ohtani is cleared to pitch again, he’ll need to go through a buildup process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone can kind of foresee what that looks like,\u201d the manager said.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/mlb<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Shohei Ohtani says his right biceps is not 100% in addition to his sore…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":833257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[102422,2843,102423,102421,6643,49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-833256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ap-online-sports-headlines","tag-ap-top-news","tag-ap-top-news-l-twc-regions","tag-ap-top-news-sports","tag-associated-press","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}