​Two-way star Shohei Ohtani will not take the mound for Friday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and he will also skip the All-Star Game next week, the Dodgers announced. He will continue serving as the designated hitter through the weekend series, but the left knee irritation that worsens with pitching remains unresolved. During the All-Star Break, Ohtani will undergo “some interventions,” though the team did not specify the exact nature of the treatment. Importantly, he will not travel to Philadelphia for the All-Star Game.
Ohtani entered Friday with a .939 on-base plus slugging percentage, the third-best mark among qualified NL hitters, and a 1.79 earned run average, the second-best among NL pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched. He has been dealing with knee irritation for about a month. He left the Dodgers’ game on June 11 against the Pirates due to inflammation in his left knee and sat out the following day, though he has continued to play through the issue since then. Friday will mark the first time this season that Ohtani has missed a pitching start because of the knee problem. He previously hinted that issues with his pitching mechanics might be contributing to the injury, but he did not indicate whether his prior kneecap condition—his 2019 surgery to address bipartite patella in the left knee—was related.
For more Dodgers coverage, sign up for Dodgers Dugout, delivered at the start of each series. This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.