Shohei Ohtani homered for the third time in four games on Friday, but he didn’t make his scheduled pitching start against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers star will have his left knee drained on Sunday and will miss the All-Star Game, but the plan is to use the week to rest and be able to pitch again shortly after the break.
Ohtani told reporters Friday night that the decision was made to take this pitching break after dealing with left knee irritation for the last few weeks.
More Ohtani, from Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:
“The goal is to be able to throw according to regular schedule,” he said. “Although I could’ve started today, it would’ve still been pushing the envelope a little bit. But my every intention is to use the off days to make sure I’m in a good place to be able to be in the rotation.”
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Kiké Hernández has been out since May 27 with a strained left oblique, but said on Friday he expects to start a minor league rehab assignment during the Dodgers’ nine-game road trip directly following the All-Star break. Maddie Lee at the Los Angeles Times has more.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts for the Dodgers on Saturday. Named an All-Star for the second year in a row, his availability to pitch in the midsummer classic on Tuesday, on two days rest, hasn’t yet been determined. From Jacob Gurvis at MLB.com on Friday:
“That’s a good one. I don’t know that answer,” Roberts said Wednesday. “For me, that’s a read-and-react. Let’s just get him through his start and we’ll see how he feels. And also, if he really wants it and it makes sense. Then we’ll have that conversation.”
If Yamamoto won’t be able to pitch on Tuesday, that’s probably the cleanest path for Justin Wrobleski to perhaps be named as a replacement on the National League All-Star roster.
