Offseason surgical procedure is “not on the table” for Shohei Ohtani this winter, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Wednesday, confirming that the group expects the two-way star to be back at full well being for the starting of next yr.
The information comes on the heels of Ohtani’s injury-plagued 2026 marketing campaign, in which he battled left knee and proper arm points for much of the summer time.
After the group was eradicated from the National League Championship Series last week, Ohtani said he was not certain if he would want any offseason procedures.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani watches his three-run residence run during the second inning of Game 4 of baseball’s National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. AP Photo/Ashley Landis
Since then, Friedman said during an end-of-season press convention alongside basic supervisor Brandon Gomes on Wednesday, Ohtani was assessed by docs and informed he just wanted relaxation.
Ohtani’s harm saga came to outline his 2026 season, steadily diminishing the two-way star’s otherworldly capabilities as he battled both left knee and proper arm points.
It began in mid-June, when Ohtani first started battling left knee irritation following a begin in Pittsburgh in which he felt flawed pitching mechanics induced irritation in his entrance touchdown leg.
It got worse in early July, when a proper biceps concern Ohtani has quietly dealt with earlier in the yr resurfaced during another two-way begin at Dodger Stadium –– one that would show to be his ultimate pitching look of the season.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani walks to the dugout after placing out during the seventh inning of Game 4 of baseball’s National League Championship Series. AP Photo/Gregory Bull
During the All-Star break, Ohtani was shut down from pitching while getting a lubricant injection in his knee.
Every try to ramp back up as a pitcher after that was scuttled by more injury-related setbacks, with both Ohtani’s arm and knee situations failing to enhance as the group had hoped.
Despite that, Ohtani remained the Dodgers’ on a regular basis DH, and remained productive at the plate for most of July and August (on Aug. 18, he had 30 residence runs, a .294 batting common and an NL-best .949 OPS).
From there, however, the slugger’s efficiency plummeted.
Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers, speaks to the media prior to Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Getty Images
He hit .157 over his ultimate 18 regular-season video games with no residence runs and only one RBI. He spent two weeks on the injured listing in September after exhibiting seen ache in his swing. And, even amid continued insistence from both him and group officers that he was shut to turning a nook, he went just 5-for-26 in the playoffs, failing to present any affect manufacturing until his three-run homer in Game 4 of the NLCS –– a large swing that in the end proved too little, too late.
Following the group’s sweep to the Brewers, Ohtani said he wished to return to his two-way function next yr.
Friedman said the Dodgers also need him to return to pitching, but Ohtani and the group would want “to put our heads together” to determine precisely how his utilization plan would look in 2027 and beyond.