Shohei Ohtani Won't Pitch Sunday, Dodgers Mound Return Timeline Now Unclear

Shohei Ohtani will not take the mound Sunday, and the Dodgers have no clear timeline for when he might pitch again, per Sonja Chen at MLB.com.

The update lands a day after Ohtani threw a 20-pitch bullpen session Friday — a session the club had been monitoring before deciding whether a Sunday start was feasible. It was not. Beyond Sunday, the Dodgers have not indicated when he might next be available to pitch, and whether he takes the ball again this season remains an open question.

What we know

Ohtani completed the bullpen work Friday. The Dodgers were watching how he felt Saturday before making a call on Sunday. That call has now been made: he won't pitch. Knee discomfort is the reported factor, per earlier Posterior coverage, though the club has not publicly attached a diagnosis or a return target to the situation.

What remains unconfirmed

No timetable has been offered. Whether Ohtani pitches again in 2026 is, by the Dodgers' own framing, still being determined. Nothing in the available material points to a next scheduled mound appearance.

Why it matters

Los Angeles has been navigating its rotation carefully. Tarik Skubal delivered six innings in Detroit a day earlier, and Blake Snell has been back and pitching well after missing three months following elbow surgery — context that makes Ohtani's uncertain availability all the more operationally significant for a club managing late-season workloads.

For now, the Dodgers have a two-way star who is very much a one-way player, with no announced end date on that arrangement.