Shohei Ohtani injury update: What we know as Dodgers star exits game vs. Pirates
· Yahoo Sports
Just as Shohei Ohtani was rounding into peak form on both sides of the ball, the Los Angeles Dodgers' global superstar was felled by an unforeseen ailment: Left knee inflammation.
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Ohtani was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of the Dodgers' Thursday, June 11 game at Pittsburgh, four innings after hitting his fifth home run in 13 games.
The Dodgers held a 6-4 lead and two runners were on when Ohtani was lifted for pinch-hitter Santiago Espinal. After homering in the third, he drew a two-out walk in the fifth, but did not need to run the bases as Andy Pages struck out to end the inning.
Shohei Ohtani clubs his second homer in as many games! pic.twitter.com/EPYEbU8pBF
— MLB (@MLB) June 11, 2026
Ohtani, who turns 32 July 5, had recently returned to two-way duty on nights he pitches after manager Dave Roberts aimed to lighten his load just a bit this season. Ohtani pitched 6⅔ innings, giving up three earned runs, a night earlier and has a 1.06 ERA.
Ohtani has been virtually healthy since injuring his left shoulder in Game 2 of the 2024 World Series. He underwent off-season shoulder surgery and was already prepared to slowly ramp up to pitching duty in 2025 thanks to recovery from a second Tommy John surgery. He took on a full-time starter's load by the second half of the 2025 season while playing in 158 games in the Dodgers' repeat run, starting Game 7 of the World Series on the mound.
This season, he started slowly in the power department but now has 13 homers in 63 games, a .305 batting average and .940 OPS.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani injury update, what we know about Dodgers-Pirates exit