Ohtani closing in on his return
Shohei Ohtani is expected back in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup on Wednesday, closing out a stint on the injured list that always had this date circled. When Ohtani first went down with right biceps inflammation, the initial recovery timeline pointed to a return no earlier than September 23. The Dodgers are on schedule to get him back exactly when they hoped.
Manager Dave Roberts confirmed the plan on Tuesday. “Unless I hear otherwise, he’ll be in the lineup tomorrow,” Roberts said, adding that Ohtani has progressed from a self-rated 5 out of 10 to “probably an 8 or 9” in terms of how he feels physically.
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Five games to find his timing
Ohtani has been out of the lineup since September 7, with the IL stint backdated to September 8. That leaves him five regular-season games to shake off the rust before the Dodgers, the defending champions, likely lock up a playoff bye. It is a tight window, but the numbers behind his absence explain why Los Angeles wants him back sooner rather than later: Ohtani was hitting just .122 with zero home runs and 21 strikeouts across his final 13 games before the injury flared up.
That slump barely dented his overall season. Ohtani is still batting .277/.380/.522 with 30 home runs, 80 RBIs and 89 runs scored, numbers that would headline most lineups even before factoring in that he has not pitched since a knee issue shut that part of his game down for the rest of 2026.
Dodgers have not missed a beat
What makes the timeline less urgent than it might otherwise be is how Los Angeles has performed without him. The Dodgers have gone 9-3 since Ohtani stepped away, proof that their roster can absorb the loss of its biggest name for a stretch without the season slipping. Getting him back for the stretch run, rather than rushing him into October cold, is the priority now.
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