Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani headed to the injured list

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers are placing Shohei Ohtani on the injured list, manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday, ending a months-long saga for the hurting four-time MVP and clearing the path for the organization to call up top prospect Josue De Paula directly from Double A.

Ohtani has dealt with nagging knee, biceps and neck issues dating back to at least June, has not pitched since July 3 and has been out of the lineup for the Dodgers in six of their past seven games. The organization struggled with how to handle his growing list of injuries.

“I think that we tried to kick the can as much as we could,” Roberts said, noting that Ohtani’s most pressing issue is his right biceps, which caused him discomfort on a swing during Monday’s game. Ohtani did not disclose the added discomfort until Tuesday night, prompting the Dodgers to nix plans of having him in the lineup Wednesday. Instead, the team pulled the lever on the supremely talented De Paula.

As a two-way player, Ohtani must go on the IL for 15 days rather than 10. He could have his stint backdated to Tuesday, but he won’t be active until the final week of the regular season at the earliest.

“I think that if it were a postseason game tomorrow, he would be in the lineup,” Roberts said. “I think that now you’re talking about two weeks, 14 days. I feel that that’s substantial. He’ll be in a much better place than he was today. Is it going to be 100 percent? Probably not. But I do think that with this time that we’re taking now, he’ll be in an adequate spot to finish the season.”

The Dodgers were reluctant to keep Ohtani out of the lineup even as he has degraded physically. His four-game absence last week was the first time he spent more than two consecutive days out of the lineup since signing with the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season. It was just the second time Ohtani missed a game because of a physical issue (he missed a May 2024 game in San Diego with lower back tightness).

It took until this week for the Dodgers to acknowledge that Ohtani was unlikely to pitch the rest of the season, a decision that appeared obvious because of the calendar and Ohtani’s regressions in his two attempts to build back up as a pitcher.

This is Ohtani’s first time on the IL since straining his oblique at the end of his tenure with the Los Angeles Angels in 2023.

Despite general manager Brandon Gomes saying last week he didn’t believe Ohtani’s injuries were affecting his offense, the eye test and numbers suggested otherwise. Ohtani was seen shaking out his arm between swings and hobbling off and on for months. He had just six hits in his last 49 at-bats before going on the IL, striking out 21 times in that span. Ohtani’s August was his worst month by OPS (.795) since the opening month of 2022 (.722).

An IL stint has felt overdue. Now, the Dodgers have a needle to thread: getting Ohtani to a spot where he can hold up physically, while having a maximum of only five big-league games to get himself back up to speed before the postseason.

“It’s certainly not ideal,” Roberts said. “I understand that. … But the most important thing is him being as healthy as possible, not compromising his swing, and kind of betting on that.”