Dodgers blindside fans with concerning Shohei Ohtani injury update

The Los Angeles Dodgers made a surprising announcement ahead of their series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Shohei Ohtani will not make his scheduled start on Friday against the D-backs thanks to continued irritation in his left knee.

Ohtani will, however, be in the Dodgers' starting lineup as the team's designated hitter, and is expected to be the DH throughout the remainder of weekend series. Unfortunately, this lingering ailment will also force Ohtani to miss next week's All-Star festivities.

Instead, the reigning NL MVP will undergo some "interventions" on his knee during the All-Star break which are designed to put him in position to finish the regular season and help the Dodgers bring a third consecutive World Series trophy back to Los Angeles.

Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani will miss the All-Star Game — but there are bigger concerns

Ohtani was the leading vote-getter this season among all NL All-Stars and was supposed to be the starting DH on Tuesday night at Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia. That role will likely be handed over to Kyle Schwarber, who'll now be able to (hopefully) put on a show in front of his hometown fans in Philly.

The All-Star Game, while entertaining for the fans, is an exhibition. It doesn't count toward a team's win-loss record, and home field advantage during the World Series no longer hangs in the balance.

So while baseball fans (and the television networks) will certainly miss seeing Ohtani in this year's Midsummer Classic, the Los Angeles faithful are much more concerned about what this means the rest of the 2026 season and even beyond.

The Dodgers had already crafted their rotation around six starters, and are currently without Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. If Ohtani is forced to miss any more time following the All-Star break, perhaps the Dodgers would go with a traditional five-man rotation.

Ohtani's bat alone than makes him a superstar. But his ability to pitch is what makes Ohtani a unicorn and the unquestioned best player in baseball. Obviously it's much too early to make any declarative statements about his long-term future with the organization, but it is, at the very least, concerning.

Ohtani has been dealing with inflammation in his left knee for the better part of a month, and it appears to have finally caught up with him. Asking him to perform at such a high level — both in the batter's box and on the pitcher's mound — may well prove to be too high a cost.

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