{"id":456911,"date":"2026-09-08T05:18:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T05:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/456911\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T05:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T05:18:16","slug":"shohei-ohtani-returns-but-he-likely-wont-pitch-again-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/456911\/","title":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani returns, but he likely won’t pitch again in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As Shohei Ohtani<\/a> strode up to the plate Monday, Michael Bubl\u00e9\u2019s voice crooned over the Dodger Stadium speakers as always. But after four games out of the lineup, the song seemed to be asking fans to believe:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling … good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani at least looked more comfortable in the batter\u2019s box than he did Wednesday, when pain in his biceps had him shaking his right arm. But his performance at the plate still remains in a slump \u2014 he went 0 for 3 with a walk in the Dodgers\u2019 6-3 win<\/a> over the Cincinnati Reds.<\/p>\n

When Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a> went over the weekend plan with Ohtani, he circled Monday as a potential date for him to return to the lineup after four days off<\/a> to address lingering aches and pains, including a recurring biceps problem.<\/p>\n

Roberts, however, will continue to keep a close eye on Ohtani.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to say it\u2019s day to day, but I am very curious to see how he comes out of tonight to then make the decision for tomorrow and ensuing days,\u201d Roberts said before the game. \u201cWe\u2019ve put a pin in throwing and just having him focus on the hitting, the running, keeping his legs good and doing whatever it takes to help us win.\u201d<\/p>\n

By \u201cput a pin in\u201d it, Roberts meant that the Dodgers<\/a> didn\u2019t have a timetable for when Ohtani might throw again, making it likely that he won\u2019t pitch again this year. But the Dodgers aren\u2019t ready to fully rule it out.<\/p>\n

Roberts said he hoped tabling throwing, at least for now, could help Ohtani\u2019s offensive production.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one part of the thought, to sort of take the pitching off of his plate and really try to let him lock in on being a hitter and get on track,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBecause the last couple of weeks he just hasn\u2019t been himself in the box.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani wasn\u2019t available before the game to give his own explanation about his recent slump, and he hasn\u2019t addressed reporters in three weeks, despite repeated requests. He tallied only two hits in the six games before Roberts sat him.<\/p>\n

\"Teoscar <\/p>\n

Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez is showered with sunflower seeds after hitting a three-run home run in the sixth inning Monday against the Reds.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of it was overall body break, which was needed,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI think that what happens is, when a player gets taxed physically, the mentally is affected as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we got to a point where it all sort of came to a head, where I do think these last four days, giving his body a reset, giving his mind a reset \u2014 anything can happen [Monday] as far as performance, but I\u2019m hoping that he\u2019s just in a better state body and mind tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

How will Roberts be able to tell if Ohtani is doing better?<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the swing, the barrel accuracy, how his mechanics look,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cHopefully we don\u2019t see that wincing we saw [Wednesday]. And just quality of at-bat in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani flew out in his first at-bat, and then struck out on a Chase Burns slider below the zone. He struck out again against Brandon Williamson to end the fifth before reaching base in the seventh on a walk.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers (87-57) caught a break with Burns \u2014 considered a top-five National League Cy Young candidate \u2014 since the Reds (69-75) had him on a pitch limit in an effort to manage his workload.<\/p>\n

Burns held the Dodgers hitless through three innings, striking out Ohtani as his last act before handing duties to the bullpen. <\/p>\n

Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan<\/a>, recalled on Monday as the Dodgers optioned right-hander Bobby Miller, gave up a home run to Elly De La Cruz in the first before outdueling the Reds\u2019 bullpen. He gave up three hits, one run and struck out 10 over 5\u2154 innings.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan delivers during the third inning against the Reds on Monday.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Against Williamson in the fifth inning, Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez lined a leadoff single into left field. After Alex Call was hit in the right foot with a pitch, Miguel Rojas chopped a grounder to Reds third baseman Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes, whose errant throw allowed two runs to score as Rojas dashed to third. <\/p>\n

The next inning, Hern\u00e1ndez punctuated his recent hot streak by lining a three-run homer into the Dodgers\u2019 bullpen \u2014 with the highest exit velocity (112.6 mph) of any ball he\u2019s put in play since 2024, according to Statcast.<\/p>\n

Though Dodgers relievers Seth Halvorsen and Jack Dreyer each gave up a run, the Dodgers tacked on insurance in the eighth inning with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from pinch-hitting Will Smith. And the team extended its winning streak to five games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Shohei Ohtani strode up to the plate Monday, Michael Bubl\u00e9\u2019s voice crooned over the Dodger Stadium speakers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[217,6848,426,423,48,52,51,6131,47,50,49,6337,1024,10250,74257,71018,108928,424,180278,430,180279],"class_list":["post-456911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-day","tag-decision","tag-dodgers","tag-game","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lineup","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-mind","tag-monday","tag-ohtani","tag-pin","tag-reds","tag-reset","tag-roberts","tag-shohei-ohtani-return","tag-week","tag-weekend-plan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}