LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers on Wednesday activated Shohei Ohtani off the injured list on his first day eligible to return after the minimum 15 days on the sideline with right biceps inflammation. Josue De Paula was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The plan is for Ohtani to be the designated hitter for the remaining five games of the regular season, to get him back in the swing of things at the plate. An accumulation of injuries ate into a very productive season for the four-time MVP. Left knee inflammation
prevented Ohtani from pitching after July 3, and the right biceps injury started showing signs at the plate as well.
Ohtani last homered on August 18, part of a stretch of three home runs in two days at Coors Field. On that date, Ohtani was hitting .294/.390/.558 with a 153 wRC+, leading the National League in slugging percentage and OPS, and a close second to Pete Crow-Armstrong (155) in wRC+.
But in 13 games since, Ohtani had just six hits in 49 at-bats (.122/.295/.184) with 21 strikeouts and 10 walks. The Dodgers tried avoiding the IL, giving Ohtani four days off before returning on September 7, when he was hitless in three at-bats plus a walk, but aggravated the right biceps injury on a swing. That was the last straw that finally landed Ohtani on the injured list for extended rest.
“When he’s activated, he’s going to be in the best physical place he’s been in quite some time,” manager Dave Roberts said over the weekend, than on Tuesday added, “I would say if he was a five, he’s probably an eight or nine right now.”
Ohtani on the shelf opened a door for De Paula, the Dodgers’ top prospect, to get called up directly from Double-A. The Dodgers were hesitant to give De Paula playing time in the corner outfield, sticking with Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker, who have each thrived in September. But with designated hitter open, De Paula had a chance to play every day, and he seized the opportunity.
De Paula has reached base in half of his 42 plate appearances, hitting .323/.500/.581 with three doubles, a triple, and a home run in his 11 games, and he has 11 walks against only five strikeouts.
“I think Josue has done a fantastic job,” Roberts said Tuesday.
Sending De Paula down to the minors means he won’t play in any of the Dodgers’ final five regular season games, but it doesn’t prevent him from making the postseason roster. De Paula needs to be on optional assignment for at least 10 days, a clock that does not stop for teams in the postseason. Getting sent down on Wednesday means his first day eligible to return is Saturday, October 3, which is the day of Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
He’s in a battle with Dalton Rushing for the left-handed bat off the bench, and De Paula has the built-in advantages that Rushing can’t really play in the field with the partially torn UCL in his right elbow, and that Rushing has been sidelined for two and a half weeks on the injured list.
“To be quite frank, it’s going to be tougher for Dalton given the time he’s missed, and to think that you have [three] games to get back into playoff form, it’s tough to do,” Roberts said Tuesday. “It’s not a knock on him, he’s been great for us, but it’s still tough, right, Given that we talk about having the consistency of at-bats recently from Josue. But we have to have those conversations and make a decision.”
