LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers get their guy back just ahead of October.
Shohei Ohtani was activated from the injured list and will bat second in the lineup against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, Sept. 23, the team announced. He'll have five games to find his footing again after lingering issues with his left knee and right bicep led him to miss the last 13 games.
Ohtani will have the added luxury of doing so in relatively low-stakes games ahead of the postseason, as the Dodgers clinched the NL West while he was out and are one game away from securing a first-round bye.
"It's go time for all of us," manager Dave Roberts said. "I can't really speak to if he's going to hit a homer tonight, but I do think that there's going to be a heightened
sense of focus. I think he's in a good spot."
Josue De Paula was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in the corresponding move, which Roberts explained was the original thought all along within the organization. The breakout rookie is still in serious consideration to make the playoff roster.
"He's a part of the conversation. He's earned that," Roberts said. "And that's what I told him last night. We have some other guys that need to play that we got to put eyes on and, to be quite frank, there's just not a lot of (at-)bats to go around now that Shohei's back."
The back-to-back National League MVP is back, but Roberts doesn't expect fireworks right away. Padres starter Robbie Ray is a tough matchup for lefties, which is part of the reason Mookie Betts stayed put in the leadoff spot. Roberts just wants Ohtani to take at-bats, especially considering he didn't face live pitching in his hitting progression.
Both Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman are confident in Ohtani's health and acknowledged that while nobody is 100% in October, the six-time All-Star is feeling and looking much better than he did when he slashed .122/.295/.184 with 21 strikeouts and zero homers in the 13 games before he hit the IL on Sept. 8.
According to Friedman, Ohtani may have underplayed how much his ailments were bothering him because they never rose to the level of needing to see a doctor. He was focused on pushing through so that he could help the team win, which isn't uncommon among high-level competitors and has happened before with numerous other players in the Dodgers clubhouse.
Friedman added that the first step is Ohtani feeling better now, but next they have to see how he feels once he gets back into his normal workload and intensity. Whether Ohtani plays in all five remaining games, or four of five, depends on how feels, but the goal is just to get him as many at-bats as possible.
"What he's doing, it was unprecedented. And it takes a real toll," Friedman said. "As we get over, I think us just being very dialed is going to be really important. We certainly had a lot of communication with him throughout the year and worked together really well in terms of how to go about this."
Ohtani doesn't need to be a world-beater for these last five games. He might not even need to be one in the postseason with how hot the bats have been in his absence. But just his presence alone in the lineup positions the Dodgers that much more as they chase World Series history.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani activated from IL: What to expect from Dodgers superstar
