Shohei Ohtani to play in Game 3 of World Series after shoulder injury

NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani is expected to play in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed ahead of Sunday’s team workout at Yankee Stadium.

Roberts did not have the immediate results after Ohtani underwent an MRI on his left shoulder after injuring it attempting to steal second base in the seventh inning of Saturday’s Game 2. Roberts said postgame that Ohtani sustained a subluxation, which is a partial dislocation, of his left shoulder.

Ohtani did not travel with the team to New York but was expected to arrive separately Sunday evening. Roberts said that Ohtani reported feeling better in consultation with the Dodgers’ training staff, with continued encouraging results when it comes to his strength and range of motion in the area.

Ohtani will go through his standard workout on Sunday, including dry swings, swinging off a tee and in the batting cage, which will inform the Dodgers’ final decision.

“I think that he’s obviously very well aware of himself and his body,” Roberts said.

“So if he feels good enough to go, then I see no reason why he wouldn’t be in there.”

Testing on Ohtani’s shoulder was paramount in determining whether there was additional damage done to the area when he used his left arm to brace his slide. Roberts was optimistic that playing through the issue — a matter of pain tolerance, he said — would not put Ohtani at risk of making the injury worse by continuing in the series against the New York Yankees.

“I think that once we make the decision that he can play, I would assume that there isn’t a possibility of that,” Roberts said.

Ohtani attempted to steal second base, as he’s done on numerous occasions during his historic 50-50 year. But this time was different.

After being tagged out, he winced in pain. Dodger Stadium fell silent. The replay showed that Ohtani braced his slide with his left arm, which he gingerly held on his deflating walk back to the home dugout.

Ohtani is slow to get up after he attempted to steal 2nd. pic.twitter.com/T3Af5GRaiw

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 27, 2024

The Dodgers experienced a similar situation in their recent October past, when Cody Bellinger dislocated his right shoulder in a celebration after hitting the go-ahead home run in Game 7 of the 2020 National League Championship Series. Bellinger returned and hit a home run in Game 1 of the ensuing World Series. The outfielder previously dislocated the shoulder several times, and would undergo surgery that offseason to repair the labrum in his shoulder; he struggled offensively over the ensuing two seasons before being non-tendered and returning to prominence with the Chicago Cubs in 2023.

Roberts could not recall a previous instance of Ohtani having any similar issue in his shoulder. Unlike Bellinger, Ohtani’s injury involves his back shoulder rather than his lead one.

“I don’t see how that affects his hitting, if he’s able to go, I really don’t,” Roberts said.

It also won’t impact Ohtani’s pitching. The right-handed pitching Ohtani has continued to throw as he recovers from a second major elbow ligament reconstruction, but has already been ruled out several times from any potential appearance on the mound in the World Series.

Through two World Series games, the Dodgers secured a 2-0 lead largely in spite of Ohtani, who has hit 1 for 8 as the team’s designated hitter. Stellar starts by Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, plus timely hitting by Freddie Freeman, NLCS MVP Tommy Edman and others, put Los Angeles in a commanding position ahead of three road games in New York.

Losing the presumptive National League MVP to injury would be no less devastating, of course. Ohtani became the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season with 54 and 59, respectively.

Required reading

(Photo: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)