Though the Los Angeles Dodgers are playing without star Shohei Ohtani for the near future, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman thinks it may not be too long before Ohtani is able to make his return.
Ohtani landed on the injured list for the first time in his Dodgers tenure last week, going on the 15-day IL with right bicep inflammation. But while speaking to reporters after the Dodgers clinched their fifth straight NL West title, Friedman said that Ohtani was on the mend.
“He’s doing well,” Friedman said, via Jack Harris of the California Post. “He’s progressing well.”
When asked if Ohtani would be back in time to join the Dodgers in the playoffs, Friedman pointed to the two-way player returning even sooner: “I expect him back in the regular season,” Friedman said.
However, Friedman did not provide an answer when asked how many at-bats Ohtani was expected to take, via the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett.
Because Ohtani’s IL stint was backdated to Sept. 8, the earliest he would be able to return to the Dodgers’ lineup is Sept. 23; Los Angeles will have five games left in the season on that day.
Earlier this week, Ohtani took a few hits off a tee in his first swings since going on IL. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, like Friedman, said at the time that Ohtani was feeling “good” but that they planned to give him a “consistent build-up.”
Roberts did not have a specific return timetable in mind, but, like Friedman, said he was hopefuly that Ohtani could return to the plate before the postseason.
“Whether it happens or not is to be determined, but I do expect him to be back to play in some regular-season games,” Roberts said. “I don’t know how many.”
With a 8-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, Los Angeles won the NL West title for the 13th time in a 14-year span. The Dodgers had already clinched a postseason berth earlier this week, the team’s 14th consecutive year in the playoffs.
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