LOS ANGELES \u2014 Shohei Ohtani is out of the Dodgers lineup on Sunday for a fourth straight day, but has progressed enough that he could start again at designated hitter as early as Monday night against the Cincinnati Reds. But it\u2019s becoming increasingly likely that Ohtani does not pitch again this season.<\/p>\n
Ohtani has dealt with left knee and right biceps issued for months, which has kept him off of the mound in game action since July 3. Recently he was also dealing with a neck injury that affected him while batting. Since his last home run \u2014 on August 18 at Coors Field in Denver \u2014 Ohtani has six hits in 49 at-bats, with 19 strikeouts. His last game was Wednesday, when he walked once and was hit by a pitch, but also struck out four times.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Ohtani hit in the batting cage throughout the game against the Washington Nationals, and continued to feel better. He also hasn\u2019t thrown in the last week, not even plyo balls that had been part of his between-bullpen work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe no throwing I think is beneficial, the four days has been beneficial,\u201d manager Dave Roberts said Sunday. \u201cThen at some point in time, we\u2019ll just kind of monitor day to day and make sure we don\u2019t get to that point where it was at four or five days ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to this weekend, Ohtani missed more than one game in a row only once \u2014 in April 2025 with two games on the paternity list for the birth of his first child. Ohtani this season has faced 340 batters while pitching and has batted 592 times, his 932 total plate appearances involved in 15 percent more than the next-most in MLB, the 808 batters faced by Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara.<\/p>\n