![\"Shohei](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2293104346-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Shohei Ohtani is hitting .204 with a .704 OPS since Aug. 8. Meg Oliphant \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Sept. 3, 2026 6:18 pm EDT Updated <\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES \u2014 Shohei Ohtani is not in the Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 starting lineup Thursday as the club continues to weigh how best to preserve its two-way star\u2019s health over the final month of the regular season.<\/p>\n
The decision comes after an 8-6 loss in 10 innings to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday in which Ohtani was hit by a pitch twice before striking out in his final four at-bats. It was Ohtani\u2019s first four-strikeout night of the year, as the four-time MVP winced repeatedly during his final two at-bats and was seen shaking out his right hand in the dugout after his last plate appearance. After the game, manager Dave Roberts conceded his star looked \u201ccompromised\u201d at the plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight was kind of the tip of the iceberg,\u201d Roberts said after the loss. \u201cBut I\u2019ve seen it over the last couple weeks, where he hasn\u2019t been who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dodgers have downplayed Ohtani\u2019s offensive struggles despite several weeks of underperformance. They have maintained he is healthy, even after lingering left knee and right biceps soreness led to him being scratched from what appeared to be an impending return to the mound last week.<\/p>\n
It is fair to correlate Ohtani\u2019s attempt to return to pitching with his recent slide, as his overall health has factored into both performances. Ohtani began a throwing program on Aug. 8. Since then, he has hit .204 with a .704 OPS, along with a 30.5 percent strikeout rate, 34.8 percent swing-and-miss rate and 50.8 percent ground-ball rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know the answer right now,\u201d Roberts said Wednesday night. \u201cI\u2019m going to have an honest conversation with the training staff and Sho and figure out what that answer is. But yeah, I think to expect him to be 100 percent, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is unclear how much recovery will be needed for Ohtani, who has not spoken to reporters since Aug. 17 despite repeated requests.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking for him, I know he feels that he needs to post and be in the lineup. If he\u2019s upright, he should play. I respect that,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut if he\u2019s feeling the way that he visibly looks, then (it\u2019s) really not helping anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story will be updated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sep 3, 2026<\/p>\n
Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n
Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n
Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani is hitting .204 with a .704 OPS since Aug. 8. Meg Oliphant \/ Getty Images Sept.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":882298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,11142,487,462,82],"class_list":["post-882297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fantasy-baseball","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882297","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=882297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}