Shohei Ohtani’s second career World Series game ended early on Saturday night. The Dodgers are hoping his season didn’t end as well.
Ohtani landed awkwardly on his arm during a stolen base attempt in the seventh inning of Game 2, forcing him out of the game. The Yankees nabbed Ohtani to end the inning, but that was a secondary concern for the Dodgers with the lead in hand.
The Rangers would be the first to tell the Dodgers that teams have been in this situation before and still prevailed. Texas lost Adolis Garcia and Max Scherzer during last year’s World Series but closed out the Diamondbacks anyway. The Dodgers got out to an early advantage in this year’s Fall Classic and are in the driver’s seat for a title, with or without Ohtani.
Here are the latest injury updates on Ohtani and his status going forward.
Shohei Ohtani injury update
Ohtani was favoring his arm after sliding into second base against Game 2. The Fox broadcast reported it was his shoulder, rather than his wrist, that left the Dodgers star in serious pain.
Ohtani is slow to get up after he attempted to steal 2nd. pic.twitter.com/T3Af5GRaiw
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 27, 2024
Some audio could be heard when manager Dave Roberts and a translator went out to check on Ohtani, and Japanese media reported Ohtani said his shoulder “popped out.”
Ken Rosenthal on FOX reports that #Dodgers Shohei Ohtani injured his left shoulder on that slide. NHK broadcast said he popped his shoulder out of socket (also known as pulling a Bellinger)
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) October 27, 2024
Ohtani rolled on his back and grabbed his left arm a few seconds after the play, seemingly having trouble moving the arm before he walked off the field with a trainer.
The injury silenced a Dodger Stadium crowd that had been very much into the game with the Dodgers leading 4-1. Back-to-back home runs by Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman gave Los Angeles an early lead, and the bullpen was keeping the Yankees at bay and the energy high before the projected MVP went down.
Ohtani’s status for Monday’s Game 3 will be the biggest story coming out of Saturday night, but a 2-0 advantage would put the Dodgers in strong position regardless as the series shifts to Yankee Stadium.
