I feel obligated to write something about Shohei Ohtani here, but the fact is that even after the MRI, we’re not going to know much about this until at least gametime on Monday and probably not even then. What you and everyone want to know is whether Ohtani will play, and if he plays, can he play like Ohtani? Again, I simply don’t know, but neither does anyone else, up to and including the Dodgers at the time I write this.
What we do know is that Ohtani injured his shoulder, landing awkwardly and unusually on his left shoulder as he went into second base. I spoke with a friend who is a native Japanese speaker who listened to the recording of Ohtani - the base was miced up - and the word that I initially heard as “hand” was “hazureta”, the Japanese word for “dislocated” or “popped out.” She suggested the full term would be “kata ga hazureta”, for “my shoulder popped out.” That seems reasonable.
On initial reaction, Ohtani did immediately grab at his hand/wrist, then moved up to the forearm. I’ll also note that Ohtani was doing something with his wrist in the at-bat prior to his injury and that was in my mind as I saw the slide and injury happen.
Ohtani left the game and Dodger Stadium quickly, likely to get an MRI. Dave Roberts said after the game that Ohtani had a subluxation, meaning that the shoulder did not come all the way out. The worry with any sublux or dislocation is not the actual injury, which can be put back in place quickly in almost all cases, or with a subluxation where it essentially does it itself. Instead, the worry is for the soft tissue around the mobile bone. It’s not supposed to move there, or that far, so everything can be stretched, stressed, and in the case of the labrum, slammed back into.
Roberts told the media that Ohtani had good range of motion and strength, but that he would have some imaging. That’s a good result and standard care. The initial worry is going to be for that soft tissue. The MRI will tell the Dodgers if there’s damage to the labrum, capsule, and any ligaments or tendons. If that’s minor, then it becomes an issue of swelling and pain.
It’s Ohtani’s non-throwing shoulder, but his pitching isn’t an issue yet. It’s his back shoulder for hitting, which is less involved, but necessary. The best possible comp here is Cody Bellinger, who dislocated his shoulder on a high five during Game 7 of the NLCS.
Bellinger was able to continue playing, even hitting a homer in Game 1 of the World Series. He had surgery after the season to repair the labrum and had a rough 2021. Other players that come to mind are Fernando Tatis Jr, who had several episodes of subluxation before having surgery, and Jung Hoo Lee, who missed much of his rookie 2024 season after injuring his shoulder running into an outfield wall.
The comps have quite the wide range, so it doesn’t really clear anything up. Bellinger missed no time, Lee missed six months. The Dodgers are obviously hoping for more the former. I’ll emphasize again that we don’t know anything yet, but my guess from initial conversations with experts and insiders is that Ohtani will test the shoulder ahead of Game 3 and will play if at all possible. Whether it alters his swing is unknown.
It does raise a question and I couldn’t find anyone to answer this - do teams allow the opponents to use their Trajekt? It would obviously be the best test for Ohtani, though I’m sure the Dodgers have a pitcher or two handy to throw live if needed. Teams certainly don’t travel with their Trajekt, so do they do some courtesy time, or would they in a situation like this?
I also wonder whether this might curtail Ohtani’s running next year. There’s already speculation that he would run less due to pitching, but he’s been throwing as part of his rehab so it’s not zero effort there. He stole almost 60 bases this season with no injuries, let alone something like this with his shoulder, so I don’t think it will factor in. Fluky injuries like this are just … fluky.
The Dodgers simply don’t have a way to replace Ohtani’s bat. No team would. My guess is that the team would shift Freddie Freeman to DH to help his high ankle sprain, but he’s looked pretty good in the first two games and has the off-day. If Ohtani is forced out of the Series altogether, my guess is that the Dodgers would replace him with another arm rather than a bat. Someone like Kevin Kiermeier might be a pinch runner or defensive replacement, but an arm like Edgardo Henriquez might give Dave Roberts one more option.
We’ll see how this all plays out ahead of Game 3 on Monday, but the World Series just got a little more interesting, even with the Dodgers taking both games at home.