Shohei Ohtani progressing in hitting rehab, regular-season return remains possible

Shohei Ohtani is continuing to move forward in his hitting rehab, and a return before the regular season concludes remains in play, MLB.com's Sarah Wexler reported.

What happened

Per Wexler's report, Ohtani has been progressing through a hitting progression, and the Dodgers have not closed the door on him appearing in a regular-season game. The report stops short of a timetable or a return date, and no announcement has been made about when — or whether — he will be activated.

The backdrop: three days ago, Ohtani was placed on the injured list with an aggravated right biceps, with Josue De Paula called up in the corresponding move. That IL placement came as the Dodgers were actively managing the health of several key contributors heading into October, and the hitting progression Wexler describes represents the next step in that process.

Why it matters

The Dodgers clinched a 2026 playoff berth earlier this week, tying the MLB record with 14 consecutive postseason appearances. With October already secured, the calculus around Ohtani's return is less about the standings and more about timing, rhythm, and whether getting him at-bats before the postseason is worth the risk of further aggravation.

That is not a trivial question. A hitting progression in late September is a controlled environment — soft toss, batting practice, live at-bats on a schedule the training staff sets. Whether that progression translates to game readiness, and how quickly, is the kind of thing the Dodgers will be watching closely without any particular urgency to rush.

Is Ohtani expected back before the postseason?

The report does not say. Wexler's framing is that a regular-season return "remains in play," which is meaningfully different from saying one is expected or imminent. The Dodgers have not made any announcement about his activation timeline, and the uncertainty in the original report should be carried forward: this is a situation to monitor, not a return to pencil in.

What the report does establish is that the hitting progression is moving in the right direction — which, given the nature of a biceps issue, is the first thing the club would need to see before any broader conversation about return dates could begin.

The numbers

The Dodgers sit at 93-60 (.608), first in the NL West, and have won their most recent game. With the division lead in hand and the playoff spot secured, the final stretch of the schedule is less a sprint than a careful inventory of who is healthy, who needs innings, and who needs rest.

Saturday's home game against the San Francisco Giants features Tarik Skubal as the probable starter — a notable name given that, a week removed from his own injury news, Skubal has posted a 2.70 ERA since returning from an elbow scope procedure in May. The Dodgers follow that with another home game against San Francisco on Sunday before hosting the San Diego Padres on Tuesday.

Where the club stands

At 93-60, the Dodgers are managing the kind of late-September roster puzzle that comes with leading your division while also trying to get everyone healthy for October. The expanded September roster gives the club some flexibility to carry players in various stages of return without forcing hard decisions immediately — though the IL clock and roster math will eventually require them.

The rotation picture has its own moving parts. Roki Sasaki was activated from the IL earlier this week and is scheduled to make one more start before the regular season ends. Blake Snell exited his most recent start after one inning with left groin tightness, though he characterized the removal as precautionary and said he expects to make his next start. Per manager Dave Roberts, Edwin Díaz was expected to be reinstated from the IL, with the plan to use him in low-leverage situations initially.

That is a lot of threads to manage simultaneously, and Ohtani's hitting progression is one more. The Dodgers are not in a position where they need him back for the standings. The question is whether they want him back for the rhythm.

What we don't know yet

The report does not specify what stage of the hitting progression Ohtani has reached, what the next benchmarks are, or what criteria the Dodgers are using to evaluate readiness. There is no timetable attached to the report, no quote from the medical staff, and no indication of whether the club has set an internal target date.

Whether "remains in play" means the Dodgers are genuinely optimistic or simply haven't closed the door is also unclear. Those are meaningfully different things, and Wexler's report, while encouraging in tone, does not resolve the distinction.

What to watch

The hitting progression itself is the primary signal. If Ohtani advances to live batting practice or a simulated game setting, that would represent a meaningful step beyond where the report currently places him. Any update from manager Dave Roberts — who has been the primary conduit for injury news on this roster — would be the next piece of information worth tracking.

The schedule also matters here. The Dodgers have games remaining against the Giants and the Padres before the regular season closes. If Ohtani is going to appear in a regular-season game, the window is narrow, and the club will need to make a decision relatively soon. For now, per MLB.com, the door is open. Whether anyone walks through it remains to be seen.