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 endure an damage on the play and was escorted off the sphere by a crew 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 bear moreover testing tomorrow, and although Roberts emphasised that he didn’t need to speculate on the severity of the damage till these exams had been accomplished, he famous that they’re “inspired” by preliminary exams 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 appear to seize their first full-season World Sequence championship since 1988. Whereas Ohtani has been unable to pitch this 12 months after present process elbow surgical procedure final September, it’s unattainable to name his first season with the membership something apart from an absolute success. The 30-year-old famous person slashed an eye-popping .310/.390/.646 (181 wRC+) in 159 video games for the Dodgers this 12 months 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 house runs (54) in a single season. Ohtani’s dynamic play has additionally been a key issue within the membership’s postseason run thus far, as he had slashed a formidable .277/.414/.489 with three house runs and ten RBI throughout the playoffs this 12 months getting into tonight’s sport.
Whether or not the Dodgers can have that explosive offensive expertise within the lineup for the rest of the sequence stays to be seen. Whereas the severity of Ohtani’s damage is just not at the moment clear, an damage of any significance will depart he and the Dodgers pressured to stability the star’s well being with their purpose of closing out a World Sequence 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 way of accidents this postseason in hopes of bringing a World Sequence house to Los Angeles. If the Dodgers take an identical plan of action with Ohtani and his shoulder situation is pretty delicate, it’s potential to think about him being again within the membership’s lineup when the sequence strikes to New York for Sport 3 on Monday night time.
That’s removed from a assure, nonetheless, and it’s equally simple to think about the problem being extreme sufficient to depart Ohtani liable to lacking the remainder of the sequence. If the damage 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 contemplate activating instead of their famous person 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 way of the postseason on a sprained ankle and may benefit from the extra break day his toes. In such a situation, Max Muncy would possible 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 damage couldn’t solely depart Ohtani unavailable for the rest of the World Sequence however doubtlessly affect his Spring Coaching and readiness for the beginning of subsequent 12 months. Crimson 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 area. Surgical procedure wound up being needed because of 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 acquainted with the perils of dislocated shoulders, as throughout the 2020 NLCS Cody Bellinger suffered a dislocated proper shoulder that he performed by way of of their final World Sequence 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 relating to whether or not or not he returned to motion earlier than he was totally wholesome. Nevertheless extreme Ohtani’s damage seems to be, one silver lining for the Dodgers is that Ohtani’s left shoulder is the one at situation, which means his pitching arm is more likely to be minimally impacted by the problem as he appears towards a return to the mound in 2025.
