Shohei Ohtani faces possible 15-day IL placement as Dodgers plan Sunday evaluation

Shohei Ohtani remained out of the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup Saturday against the Washington Nationals, and the club is now weighing whether to place him on the injured list, per MLB Trade Rumors.

What happened

Ohtani has not appeared in the lineup for three consecutive games. He has not been placed on the injured list as of the report, but manager Dave Roberts told reporters — including Katie Woo of The Athletic — that the team plans to evaluate Ohtani on Sunday. Roberts indicated he expected Ohtani to take batting practice in the cage, and that how Ohtani comes out of that session would be telling for Sunday's availability.

The most recent game action for Ohtani came Wednesday against the Cardinals, when he struck out four times. Roberts told reporters after that game that Ohtani did not look like himself.

Why it matters

The IL question here is not a simple one, and the rulebook mechanics make it worth spelling out. Under general league rules, two-way players are subject to the 15-day injured list rather than the 10-day IL available to position players. That distinction matters considerably in September, when roster flexibility is at a premium and every lineup card is a small negotiation between depth and urgency. A 15-day IL stint, even if backdated to the day Ohtani last played, would keep his bat out of the lineup for an extended stretch — and the Dodgers are in the middle of a division race with a magic number of 11.

The backdating provision is also relevant here. Per general league rules, an IL placement can be backdated up to three days, which is precisely why, per MLB Trade Rumors, a final decision is expected Sunday rather than sooner. The club appears to be gathering as much information as possible before committing to a move that carries a longer minimum absence than a standard position-player stint.

It is also worth noting that Ohtani has not pitched since July 3 due to a right knee issue, per earlier reporting. His current absence from the lineup is a separate matter from that pitching timeline, though it adds another layer to an already complicated two-way situation. The desk will not speculate on how those two threads interact — that would require drawing a line the material does not draw.

The numbers

Los Angeles enters Sunday at 84-57 (.596), first in the NL West, with a division magic number of 11. The Dodgers have won their last two games. Those are the numbers that frame what Ohtani's absence costs in the most concrete terms: a club this close to clinching can afford some lineup disruption, but a 15-day absence from one of its central offensive pieces is not a rounding error, even in September.

The four strikeouts Ohtani recorded in his last appearance Wednesday against the Cardinals are the only performance figures attached to this stretch in the current report. Roberts's postgame comment — that Ohtani did not look like himself — is the only qualitative assessment on record, and the desk will leave it there.

Where the club stands

Los Angeles holds first place in the NL West at 84-57 (.596) and enters Sunday on a two-game winning streak. The division magic number of 11 means the arithmetic is close enough to feel real, even if it is not yet close enough to feel inevitable.

After Sunday's series finale against the Nationals at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers open a three-game home series against the Cincinnati Reds. Chase Burns is the listed probable for Monday, September 7, and Nick Lodolo is listed for Tuesday, September 8. Los Angeles's starters are listed as TBD for all three upcoming games, which is its own quiet footnote to a week in which the rotation picture has been anything but settled.

The Reds series arrives quickly, and the Dodgers will need to sort out their lineup construction — with or without Ohtani — before that Monday opener. Whether the TBD starters column resolves before or after the IL question does is, for now, genuinely unclear.

What we don't know yet

The most important open question is whether Ohtani will be placed on the injured list at all, and if so, when. Per MLB Trade Rumors, no IL placement has been made as of the report. Sunday's cage session is framed as the key data point, and Roberts's comments suggest the club is treating it as genuinely diagnostic rather than procedural.

The nature of whatever is affecting Ohtani has not been specified in the current report. Earlier in the week, reporting indicated he had missed a game with neck and right biceps concerns, but the current report does not attach a specific diagnosis to the three-game absence, and the desk will not supply one.

It also remains unclear who would fill Ohtani's lineup spot on an extended basis if an IL stint does materialize. The roster has been active in recent days — Bobby Miller was reportedly activated from the 60-day IL for his 2026 debut after rehabbing a shoulder injury at Triple-A, a move that came alongside the designation for assignment of Alek Thomas — but MLB Trade Rumors does not connect those moves to Ohtani's situation, and the desk won't either. Roster activity and roster causation are different things.

What to watch

The Sunday cage session is the immediate pivot point. Roberts's framing — that how Ohtani comes out of it will be telling — suggests the club is not operating on a predetermined timeline. If Ohtani responds well, he could return to the lineup Sunday. If he does not, an IL placement appears to be the next step, per the report.

Given the 15-day minimum for two-way players under general league rules, and the backdating window that MLB Trade Rumors notes could be applied here, the shape of any absence will depend on details that only become clear once a move is, or is not, announced. The Dodgers have a magic number of 11 and a cage session standing between them and that answer. Sunday will be informative either way.