Shohei Ohtani to miss start and skip All-Star Game with left knee irritation

Shohei Ohtani will not take the mound as scheduled and will not travel to Philadelphia for next week's All-Star Game, the Dodgers announced, after irritation in his left knee forced a change of plans that extends well beyond a single missed start.

What happened

The Dodgers announced that Ohtani is being held from his scheduled start due to left knee irritation. He will continue to serve as the designated hitter through the current weekend series against Arizona, after which the club says he will "have some interventions" on the knee in preparation for the second half of the season.

Per Jack Harris of the California Post, those interventions will not include surgery. Harris reports that the plan involves draining the knee and likely administering an injection of some kind. The All-Star Game, scheduled for next week in Philadelphia, will proceed without him.

Why it matters

Ohtani's two-way value is singular enough that any disruption to his pitching schedule carries weight beyond a simple rotation shuffle. Missing a start is one thing; the framing around it — interventions, a skipped All-Star Game, a knee with documented history — is another. The Dodgers' language about setting him up for the second half suggests the club is managing this deliberately rather than reactively, but the nature of what "some interventions" means in practice remains, per Harris's reporting, a draining and probable injection rather than anything more involved.

The history here is not new. Ohtani had surgery on this same left knee in September of 2019, at that point a member of the Angels. This year's episode, per Harris, dates back roughly a month, if not longer. On June 11, Harris reported, Ohtani was removed from a game with inflammation in the knee. Imaging at that time came back clean, per Harris, though he was kept out of the following day's lineup. The Dodgers' announcement represents the most significant operational consequence of that ongoing issue.

Is Ohtani skipping the All-Star Game entirely?

Per the Dodgers' announcement, yes — he will not travel to Philadelphia. The club's statement and Harris's reporting are aligned on that point. What remains undetailed is the precise timing of the knee procedures and when Ohtani could return to the pitching rotation after the break.

The numbers

The Dodgers enter this weekend at 100-62 (.617), first in the NL West and riding a three-game winning streak. That record provides some cushion for absorbing a missed start, though the rotation implications for the stretch run are worth watching.

The weekend series against Arizona at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium now takes shape without Ohtani on the mound. Friday's probable matchup is Kyle Hurt against Eduardo Rodriguez. Saturday has Yoshinobu Yamamoto lined up against Brandon Pfaadt. Sunday closes the series with Emmet Sheehan facing Mitch Bratt. Ohtani, per the club's announcement, will be available as the designated hitter through this series — it is only the pitching role that is affected for now. The All-Star break, arriving immediately after Sunday's game, may serve as the recovery runway the club is counting on.

Where the club stands

At 100-62, the Dodgers are leading the NL West with a .617 winning percentage and a three-game winning streak. A club in that position has earned the right to be deliberate about how it handles a two-way player's knee, and the timing — three home games against Arizona before the break — offers a relatively contained window to get through before the procedures take place.

What the second half asks of the rotation is a separate question. The Dodgers' depth has been tested in various ways across a long season, and the pitching side of Ohtani's two-way role is the piece that cannot simply be redistributed to the designated hitter slot. How the club fills that gap, and for how long, will shape the rotation picture heading into the final stretch of the regular season.

What we don't know yet

Harris reports that surgery is not planned and that a draining and probable injection are the expected course of treatment — but the precise timing of those procedures has not been detailed in the reporting. It is also not yet clear when Ohtani could return to the pitching rotation after the All-Star break, or whether the Dodgers will make any corresponding roster moves in the interim.

The club's language — "have some interventions" and "set him up for the second half" — is forward-looking without committing to a timetable. General roster mechanics allow for various options depending on how the knee responds, but nothing in the reporting or the club's announcement specifies which path, if any, is being considered.

Whether the knee responds as hoped, and what the second-half rotation looks like around Ohtani's return, are questions the current reporting does not yet answer.

What to watch

The most immediate thing to monitor is whether Ohtani remains in the lineup as the designated hitter through Sunday without any setback — the club has said he will, but the knee's behavior over the next few days will matter. After the All-Star break, the first indication of where things stand will likely come from the Dodgers' rotation announcements and any updated reporting from Harris, who has been the primary source on the knee's status throughout this episode.

The broader watch item is how the club manages the pitching side of Ohtani's two-way role through the second half. At 100-62, the Dodgers have the record to absorb some uncertainty. Whether they have the rotation depth to absorb an extended absence from the mound — and whether it comes to that — is the question that will define the next chapter of this story. The desk will be watching Harris's feed.