Shohei Ohtani dealing with knee and blister issues ahead of Wednesday start vs. Tampa Bay

What happened

Shohei Ohtani is managing knee and blister issues after back-to-back difficult outings, though the Los Angeles Dodgers have downplayed the severity of both concerns, per CBS Sports. The two-way star is listed as the probable starter for Wednesday's home game against the Tampa Bay Rays — which means, for now at least, the club's public posture and the schedule are aligned.

The timing is worth noting. Ohtani has allowed seven earned runs across his last two starts, a stretch that has caused his ERA to nearly double, per CBS Sports. Whether the physical issues contributed to those results, or whether they are incidental to a rough patch, is not something the available reporting establishes. The Dodgers' downplaying of the knee and blister concerns is their characterization, not a medical clearance — and the distinction matters when a pitcher is scheduled to take the ball in fewer than two days.

Why it matters

Ohtani is not just a rotation piece for Los Angeles — he is the gravitational center of the franchise's pitching plans on any given Wednesday. When his health status carries even a degree of uncertainty, it ripples outward: into the bullpen's preparation, into the opponent's scouting, and into the broader question of how the Dodgers manage a long season from a position of strength.

The knee and blister combination is worth watching separately. Blisters are a pitcher's particular nemesis — grip, release point, and spin rate can all shift in ways that don't show up in a pregame availability report. A knee issue for a two-way player carries its own set of considerations, given the physical demands of pitching and the broader role he fills. CBS Sports reports the Dodgers are downplaying both, but "downplaying" is organizational language, and the desk holds the details accordingly until the club or Ohtani's representatives say more.

The numbers

The clearest statistical signal available is the one CBS Sports reported: seven earned runs allowed over Ohtani's last two starts, a stretch that has caused his ERA to nearly double. That figure — the near-doubling — is the kind of number that earns a pitching coach's full attention regardless of what the injury report says.

The Los Angeles Dodgers carry a record of 100-62 (.617) into Wednesday's game, sitting first in the NL West and riding a three-game winning streak. That context doesn't make Ohtani's recent stretch disappear, but it does mean the club has the margin to absorb a rough outing or two without the standings shifting beneath them.

Where the club stands

At 100-62, the Dodgers are first in the NL West and leading the division. A three-game winning streak heading into Wednesday suggests the roster around Ohtani has been doing its part. The upcoming schedule at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium keeps the club at home: Wednesday brings the Tampa Bay Rays with Ohtani listed as the probable against Shane McClanahan, Friday opens a series against the Baltimore Orioles with Roki Sasaki projected to face Trey Gibson, and Saturday continues that series with Yoshinobu Yamamoto lined up opposite Trevor Rogers.

That is a rotation that, on paper, asks a lot of its top of the order — three starters with significant profiles pitching in a three-day window. If Ohtani's knee or blister were to become more than a downplayed concern, the ripple effect on that sequence would be immediate and visible.

Is Ohtani starting Wednesday?

Per the schedule, Ohtani is listed as the probable starter for Wednesday's game against Tampa Bay. The Dodgers have downplayed the severity of his knee and blister issues, per CBS Sports, and nothing in the available reporting indicates a change to that assignment. That said, probable starters are not guarantees, and the physical concerns have not been formally resolved in any reporting available to the desk. Fans checking a lineup card Wednesday afternoon will know more than anyone does right now.

What we don't know yet

The CBS Sports report does not specify when the knee issue emerged, how long the blister has been a factor, or whether either concern is expected to affect Ohtani's availability beyond Wednesday. The Dodgers' characterization of both as minor is noted, but the underlying medical detail — what kind of knee issue, which hand, how the blister has been treated — is not part of the available reporting.

It is also not established whether the seven earned runs allowed over the last two starts are connected to the physical issues or represent an independent performance fluctuation. That causal link, tempting as it is to draw, is not in the material.

What to watch

Wednesday's start is the immediate focal point. If Ohtani takes the mound against the Rays as scheduled and works through his normal outing, the Dodgers' downplaying of the knee and blister concerns will look well-founded. If he is scratched, or if he exits early, the conversation shifts quickly — both about his health and about how the club manages the rest of a rotation that includes Sasaki and Yamamoto in the days that follow.

Beyond Wednesday, the blister situation in particular bears monitoring across starts. Pitchers have lost significant time to blisters that were initially described as minor. The desk is not suggesting that trajectory here; the material does not support it. But it is the kind of thing a knowledgeable fan keeps an eye on when a pitcher with Ohtani's workload and profile reportedly has any grip-related discomfort, however downplayed.

The Dodgers, at 100-62 and leading the NL West, are not a club operating in crisis mode. But the best time to track a developing health situation is before it becomes one.