Shohei Ohtani's first trip to the injured list with the Los Angeles Dodgers is officially on the books. The club placed the two-way star on the 15-day IL with right biceps inflammation on Friday, a move that was expected but still lands with the regular season winding down. It is the first time in three seasons with the Dodgers that Ohtani has been sidelined.
The Dodgers selected the contract of elite prospect Josue De Paula to replace Ohtani on the roster and in his usual designated hitter spot. De Paula, MLB Pipeline's No. 6 overall prospect, was hitting seventh at DH in his MLB debut against the Miami Marlins on Friday. The club also moved pitcher Eric Lauer to the 60-day IL to clear 40-man roster space for De Paula.
The IL placement is backdated to Sept. 8, the day after Ohtani's most recent appearance, when he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk against the Chicago Cubs. That backdating means Ohtani is not eligible to return until Sept. 23, with just five games left on the Dodgers' regular season schedule at that point.
The biceps being the stated reason for the IL trip is curious, given how much attention has been paid to Ohtani's knee all season. That knee issue forced him to stop pitching in early July, and he received a lubricant injection in the joint during the All-Star break. Ohtani first revealed the biceps problem in late July, but the Dodgers consistently downplayed it compared with the knee.
The timing is less than ideal for a Dodgers team on track to win the NL West for the 13th time in 14 years. They currently sit 1.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers for the best record in MLB. The hope now is that Ohtani returns in the minimum amount of time and does not need much runway to be sharp for the postseason.
There is a structural wrinkle here worth noting. The Dodgers would have preferred to place Ohtani on the 10-day IL like any other hitter, but his official two-way player designation, which allows him to pitch without counting against MLB's maximum of 13 rostered pitchers, forces him onto the 15-day IL like a pitcher. That designation has been a roster advantage all season, but it now costs him five extra days of recovery time.
The ship has also seemingly sailed on Ohtani throwing another pitch this year. He told reporters on Monday that he will be "focusing on hitting moving forward," effectively closing the door on a return to the mound in 2026. That leaves the Dodgers with a DH who hits and a rotation that will have to get through October without him.
De Paula is the intriguing part of this transaction. The Dodgers' best prospect in years, he might be the most advanced hitter in the minor leagues. His promotion gives Los Angeles an immediate replacement with legitimate upside, though expecting him to replicate Ohtani's production is a stretch for any rookie. De Paula's debut Friday came with the Marlins in town, a soft landing for a player the organization believes is ready for the moment.
Ohtani's absence leaves a hole in the middle of the order that the Dodgers will have to patch for at least two weeks. The NL West race is effectively settled, so the real concern is whether Ohtani returns at full strength for the games that count. The biceps inflammation, the knee, the injection, the shutdown from pitching: it has been a season of managing one issue after another for the sport's most watched player.
The Dodgers announced the move Friday, with the IL stint backdated to Sept. 8. De Paula was in the lineup that night, making his debut against the Marlins.
According to Yahoo Sports.