LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers are placing Shohei Ohtani on the 15-day injured list, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium after a 14-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
Because Ohtani carries the two-way designation, he goes on the 15-day list rather than the 10-day list available to position players. The earliest he can return is Sept. 23. Five regular-season games would remain on the schedule at that point.
It is the first injured list stint of his three seasons in Los Angeles.
Ohtani has missed six of the last seven games while managing soreness in his right biceps and left knee, along with a neck issue. He returned Monday after a four-game absence, batted leadoff against Cincinnati, and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. A swing in that game left him with a setback, and he was out of the lineup Tuesday and Wednesday.
Roberts said last week that Ohtani had not looked like himself for a couple of weeks and that he was compensating for the injuries.
“The concern is that after four days [off], to then take four at-bats and feel something in an at-bat where we can’t keep going forward, that’s disappointing,” Roberts said before Wednesday’s game. “But that’s kind of where we’re at … and anything should be on the table [moving forward], as far as what gets him to be the best version of himself in September.”
Since Aug. 8, when he began a throwing progression that has since been shut down, Ohtani has hit .198 with four home runs, 10 RBIs, and a .689 OPS. Over his last 13 games he is 6-for-49 with 21 strikeouts. He is batting .277/.380/.522 with 30 home runs and 80 RBIs for the season.
MLB rules allow a club to backdate an injured list placement by up to three days. Waiting three days and landing in the same spot two days later would have meant the Dodgers made the wrong call.
“Hopeful, but I wouldn’t say confident,” Roberts explained on Friday, per MLB.com’s Sonja Chen. “If three days [go by] and we’re back in the same spot two days later, then it wasn’t the right decision. … There are scenarios where we don’t make the move and he’s still active, so I don’t know what that looks like. But there’s not just two ways to do this.”
Shohei Ohtani’s Pitching Season Ended Before the Injured List Decision
Ohtani has not pitched since July 3. In 14 starts he threw 85 2/3 innings and struck out 95, going 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA.
Ohtani is not at 100%, and his concerns are the arm and the knee.
“Most likely, no,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton on Monday, of pitching again in 2026, per SportsNet LA. “I’m going to be focusing on hitting moving forward.”
In August, Ohtani hit .241/.322/.422 with six home runs.
Josue De Paula Called Up From Double-A Tulsa To Replace Shohei Ohtani
The Dodgers are calling up Josue De Paula, who joins the team Friday in Miami for the start of a seven-game road trip. ESPN’s Alden González first reported the promotion.
In 124 games at Double-A Tulsa this season, De Paula hit .303/.401/.547 with 27 home runs, 104 RBIs, and 31 stolen bases. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the sixth-best prospect in the minor leagues.
De Paula signed with the Dodgers on Jan. 15, 2022, for $397,500. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 24, 2005. He will be the first position player promoted straight from Double-A under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
The Dodgers are 89-57 and hold the second seed in the National League, 1 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers. Their lead over the San Diego Padres in the NL West is 11 games with 16 to play.
Freddie Freeman was also out of Wednesday’s lineup with right knee soreness. Freeman is batting .301/.378/.459 with 16 home runs.
The road trip opens Friday against the Miami Marlins at 6:10 p.m. CT. The wild-card round begins Sept. 29, and the National League Division Series begins Oct. 3.
