A heart-stopping second occurred for Dodgers followers within the backside of the seventh inning tonight when Shohei Ohtani tried to steal second base. Ohtani was tagged out by Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres however appeared to undergo an harm on the play and was escorted off the sector by a staff coach. After the sport, supervisor Dave Roberts advised reporters (together with The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that Ohtani had suffered a “little” shoulder subluxation, or partial dislocation. The star will endure moreover testing tomorrow, and although Roberts emphasised that he didn’t need to speculate on the severity of the harm till these checks have been accomplished, he famous that they’re “inspired” by preliminary checks and that he’s “anticipating” Ohtani to be again within the lineup for Sport 3 on Monday.
It’s a doubtlessly devastating blow to the Dodgers as they give the impression of being to seize their first full-season World Collection championship since 1988. Whereas Ohtani has been unable to pitch this yr after present process elbow surgical procedure final September, it’s inconceivable to name his first season with the membership something aside from an absolute success. The 30-year-old celebrity slashed an eye-popping .310/.390/.646 (181 wRC+) in 159 video games for the Dodgers this yr and have become the primary participant in MLB historical past to steal at the very least 50 bases (59) and hit at the very least 50 dwelling runs (54) in a single season. Ohtani’s dynamic play has additionally been a key issue within the membership’s postseason run up to now, as he had slashed a powerful .277/.414/.489 with three dwelling runs and ten RBI through the playoffs this yr coming into tonight’s recreation.
Whether or not the Dodgers may have that explosive offensive expertise within the lineup for the rest of the sequence stays to be seen. Whereas the severity of Ohtani’s harm just isn’t presently clear, an harm of any significance will depart he and the Dodgers pressured to stability the star’s well being with their aim of closing out a World Collection championship they’re simply two victories away from clinching. Different gamers on the Dodgers’ roster, together with fellow star Freddie Freeman and veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas, have performed by accidents this postseason in hopes of bringing a World Collection dwelling to Los Angeles. If the Dodgers take the same plan of action with Ohtani and his shoulder concern is pretty gentle, it’s attainable to think about him being again within the membership’s lineup when the sequence strikes to New York for Sport 3 on Monday evening.
That’s removed from a assure, nevertheless, and it’s equally straightforward to think about the difficulty being extreme sufficient to depart Ohtani vulnerable to lacking the remainder of the sequence. If the harm proves to be extreme sufficient for the Dodgers to take away Ohtani from their playoff roster, outfielders Kevin Kiermaier and James Outman would seem like the almost certainly choices for the membership to think about activating rather than their celebrity on the playoff roster. In the meantime, Ohtani vacating the DH spot within the lineup would enable the membership to supply extra relaxation to Freeman, who has performed by the postseason on a sprained ankle and may gain advantage from the extra time without work his toes. In such a state of affairs, Max Muncy would seemingly slide over from third base to cowl first for Freeman, opening up the recent nook for Enrique Hernandez and second base for Gavin Lux.
In fact, with simply 5 months left to Opening Day 2025, a very extreme harm couldn’t solely depart Ohtani unavailable for the rest of the World Collection however doubtlessly affect his Spring Coaching and readiness for the beginning of subsequent yr. Pink Sox shortstop Trevor Story underwent what was believed to be season-ending shoulder surgical procedure again in April following an preliminary analysis just like Ohtani’s after Story awkwardly landed on his shoulder throughout a play within the subject. Surgical procedure wound up being obligatory attributable to structural injury in his shoulder and got here with an preliminary six-month restoration timeline, although Story managed to return forward of schedule in simply 5.
The Dodgers are fairly accustomed to the perils of dislocated shoulders, as through the 2020 NLCS Cody Bellinger suffered a dislocated proper shoulder that he performed by of their final World Collection run however finally required surgical procedure on. That process got here with a restoration timeline of simply ten weeks however Bellinger infamously struggled badly over his subsequent two seasons with the Dodgers, resulting in questions concerning whether or not or not he returned to motion earlier than he was absolutely wholesome. Nevertheless extreme Ohtani’s harm seems to be, one silver lining for the Dodgers is that Ohtani’s left shoulder is the one at concern, which means his pitching arm is prone to be minimally impacted by the difficulty as he seems to be towards a return to the mound in 2025.
