NEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts confirmed Friday that two-way star Shohei Ohtani underwent a procedure in which lubricant was injected into his left knee, though doctors did not drain any fluid from the joint.
Despite the knee issue, Ohtani was in Friday’s second-half opener against the New York Yankees, batting leadoff as the designated hitter. The four-time MVP is not expected to pitch this weekend, with his next scheduled start tentatively set for Wednesday in Philadelphia.
Roberts said the procedure took place following Sunday’s game against Arizona. Ohtani’s most recent pitching appearance came on July 3.
“It gives him some relief in his knee, which we were hoping to get, and then the four days off from activity, which gets it all to kind of settle in,” Roberts said. “I think we are certainly more prepared to back off on the workload if it calls for it, but Shohei wants to be out there as much as he possibly can.”
On the season, Ohtani is hitting .293 with 22 home runs and 58 RBIs at the plate, while posting an 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts across 85 2/3 innings in 14 starts on the mound. He sat out Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Roberts said he plans to give Ohtani a day of rest following each of his pitching starts whenever the schedule allows.
“Safe to say that even there isn’t an off day behind it, I would like to give him that next day off,” Roberts said. “So ideally, yeah, he would have the scheduled off day behind it but that’s not always possible, kind of with the schedule and also where he’s at.”
Roberts also noted that Ohtani will likely throw off a mound within the next several days to evaluate how the knee responds.
