Shohei Ohtani skipped a tentatively scheduled bullpen session Saturday and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the two-way superstar won’t throw off a mound again until his irritated left knee feels 100%.
“We’re just going to kick the can,” Roberts said before his team played the New York Mets. “I think like I said yesterday, we’re not going to move forward until he feels 100% confident (and) we feel 100% confident that we should do it.”
Ohtani hasn’t pitched in a game since July 3. But the Dodgers say his knee doesn’t bother him while batting, and the four-time MVP has remained in the starting lineup regularly.
The two-time defending World Series champions began the day with the best record in the majors at 66-38 and an 11-game lead in the NL West over Arizona.
Ohtani received a lubricant injection just before the All-Star break and Roberts said last weekend it would be “some time” before Ohtani makes his next appearance as a pitcher.
The right-hander then threw about 30 pitches off a mound Wednesday during a bullpen session in Philadelphia, but Roberts said Ohtani felt a “little bit of regression.”
“It was obviously not ideal, him throwing his last bullpen and going backwards essentially,” Roberts said. “So, obviously, that’s disappointing because you throw a bullpen, you continue to build up. So that was disappointing, but as far as worry, concern, we don’t have any of that.”
Ohtani is 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings over 14 starts on the mound this season and has won his past six decisions. He entered Saturday batting .286 with 22 homers, 61 RBIs and a .920 OPS.
In other injury updates, two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell made a second rehab start Friday night for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Sidelined since his season debut May 9 because of loose bodies in his pitching elbow, the left-hander threw 49 pitches and allowed one run and two hits in 2 2/3 innings. Roberts said Snell likely will progress to four innings in his third rehab outing.
Star closer Edwin Diaz (right elbow surgery) will make another rehab appearance Sunday for Oklahoma City and, if all goes well, the right-hander is expected to be activated from the injured list Wednesday.
Tyler Glasnow, on the 60-day IL since May 8 because of low back spasms, threw 25 pitches in one simulated inning Friday. Glasnow will pitch in another simulated game next week when the Dodgers return home and might start a rehab assignment after that.
Reporting by the Associated Press.