Shohei Ohtani wins ESPY for Best Single-Game Performance amid left knee concern

Shohei Ohtani won the ESPY Award for Best Single-Game Performance, per Yahoo Sports, collecting the honor for a postseason outing that was, by any reasonable measure, the kind of thing awards shows were invented to recognize — even if the man himself wasn't there to pick it up.

What happened

Ohtani was not in attendance at the ceremony. Boxing legend Mike Tyson, boxer and influencer Jake Paul, and music producer DJ Khaled announced him as the winner, per Yahoo Sports. The performance being honored came in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers: three home runs, six scoreless innings on the mound, and 10 strikeouts. That is the kind of line that reads like a typo the first time you see it.

The timing of the honor, however, arrives alongside a more pressing storyline. Per Yahoo Sports, Ohtani withdrew from the MLB All-Star Game this week after being named the league's leading vote-getter. The reason: inflammation and irritation in his left knee. The discomfort has reportedly affected his pitching mechanics, and he was pulled from a scheduled start for the Dodgers. Yahoo Sports reported both the withdrawal and the missed start, and neither has been characterized as anything beyond what it is — a developing situation with meaningful uncertainty still attached.

Why it matters

Ohtani's value to the Dodgers is, at this point, almost impossible to overstate in conventional terms. Yahoo Sports noted that he has played a key role in leading Los Angeles to back-to-back World Series championships. That context matters here because the knee concern is not just about a single missed start or an All-Star exhibition — it touches the pitching half of the most unusual two-way profile in the sport.

The left knee affecting his pitching mechanics is the detail worth sitting with. A hitter dealing with knee discomfort is one kind of problem. A pitcher dealing with knee discomfort that changes how he delivers the ball is a different conversation entirely, and the fact that it was significant enough to pull him from a scheduled start gives the situation weight that the celebratory backdrop cannot fully soften.

Under general league rules, two-way players are subject to the 15-day injured list rather than the 10-day IL that applies to position players — meaning any formal IL placement, should it come to that, would carry a longer minimum absence. No such move has been reported, and Yahoo Sports has not indicated one is imminent. What has been reported is a withdrawal from the All-Star Game and a missed start. Everything beyond that remains uncharacterized in the available reporting.

The numbers

Through 88 games this season, per Yahoo Sports, Ohtani has posted 98 hits, 65 runs, 22 home runs, and 58 RBIs at the plate. On the mound, he carries an 8-2 record across 14 starts. Those are the figures on the table heading into whatever comes next.

The performance that prompted the honor — three home runs, six scoreless innings, and 10 strikeouts in a single NLCS game — sits in a different category from a season line. It is the kind of output that makes the recognition feel less like a ceremony and more like a formality.

Where the club stands

The Dodgers are 100-62 (.617), sitting first in the NL West and riding a three-game winning streak. The schedule ahead does not offer much in the way of breathing room: Los Angeles heads to Yankee Stadium for a three-game series, with Roki Sasaki listed as the probable starter against Gerrit Cole on Friday, July 17, Emmet Sheehan opposing Ryan Weathers on Saturday, July 18, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto set against Cam Schlittler on Sunday, July 19.

Ohtani's name does not appear in any of those probable pitching matchups, which is consistent with the reported situation — a pulled start and an All-Star withdrawal — but the club has not made any formal announcement about his schedule going forward, and Yahoo Sports has not reported one.

What we don't know yet

The material leaves several things genuinely open. There is no reported timetable for Ohtani's return to the rotation. There is no characterization of the knee issue beyond what Yahoo Sports described — inflammation and irritation affecting pitching mechanics — and no diagnosis beyond that framing has been reported. Whether the missed start is a one-time adjustment or the beginning of a longer absence is not something the available reporting answers.

The All-Star withdrawal was reported by Yahoo Sports, but the club has not issued a formal announcement about next steps, and the desk is not in the business of filling that gap with inference.

What to watch

### When does Ohtani pitch next?

That is the question the current reporting does not answer. Yahoo Sports noted he was pulled from a scheduled start and withdrew from the All-Star Game, but no return date or next scheduled outing has been reported. The three-game series at Yankee Stadium — with Sasaki, Sheehan, and Yamamoto as the listed probables — does not include Ohtani in the rotation as currently reported.

The knee situation bears watching not just for the missed starts it may produce but for what it means for the pitching mechanics Yahoo Sports specifically flagged. A hitter can sometimes manage through lower-body discomfort with adjustments; a pitcher whose delivery is being altered by that same discomfort is operating in more complicated territory. Whether the Dodgers and Ohtani find a path through it quickly, or whether a more formal roster move follows, is the thread that matters most heading into the back half of the season.

The award is settled. The rotation spot is the open question.