- Shohei Ohtani was hit in the thigh by a comebacker during the Dodgers’ loss to the Rockies.
- Ohtani left the game as a pitcher after four innings and was later removed for a pinch-hitter due to the injury.
- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expects Ohtani to return to the lineup on Friday against the Padres.
Shohei Ohtani was hit in the thigh by a comebacker and eventually removed from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ loss to the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday, but the National League MVP favorite expects to be back in the lineup for his team’s next game.
In the fourth inning at Coors Field, a line drive hit by Orlando Arcia struck Ohtani above the right knee. Manager Dave Roberts and the training staff came out to check on him, but Ohtani remained in the game and finished the inning.
Ohtani took his at-bat in the fifth but his night on the mound came to an end, getting roughed up for nine hits and five earned runs in four innings. Roberts removed Ohtani for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and said after the game he was worried about his star’s thigh tightening up.
‘It was getting stiff and there was some swelling in there,’ Roberts said. ‘It was in the thigh, fortunately, and not off the knee. But it got him square. … I felt as the game was going to go on, it was going to stiffen up more.’
Is Shohei Ohtani playing today?
Roberts said before Wednesday’s game – and the injury – that he was planning on resting Ohtani on Thursday, a day game after a night game in which he pitched. Ohtani was indeed left out of the Dodgers’ starting lineup for the series finale at Coors Field on Thursday.
Detailing after the game that Ohtani had a thigh contusion, Roberts said he’s ‘hopeful’ that Ohtani will be back in the lineup Friday for the first game of a huge series against the Padres in San Diego.
‘That’s my intention,’ Ohtani said through his interpreter, ‘is to make sure I get my treatment, and the goal is to make sure that I’m back to normal again. … I got hit in the same spot, hit by a pitch (earlier this season). Right now, it feels pretty good. I’m going to do everything in my ability to make sure that it doesn’t affect me moving forward.’
The Dodgers lead the Padres by just one game in the NL West, and the three-game set at Petco Park beginning Friday is the final time the teams will meet in the regular season.
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