​Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his scheduled pitching appearance Friday due to lingering irritation in his left knee and will not participate in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the team announced. In a statement, the Dodgers explained that Ohtani would not take the mound this evening against the Arizona Diamondbacks because of continued irritation in the same knee that has caused him issues since June. He will serve as the designated hitter for the remainder of the weekend, but after the series with Arizona, he is set to undergo some knee interventions aimed at putting him in the best possible position for the second half of the season. The club added that, as a result of these developments, Ohtani will not be traveling to Philadelphia to take part in the 2026 All-Star Game.
Ohtani left a June 11 game with discomfort in his left knee and was removed from the Dodgers’ lineup for the following day’s hit duties. Since then, he has been managing the problem, which concerns the same knee on which he underwent surgery in 2019 to address a congenital condition in which the kneecap did not fuse into a single bone. Despite his ongoing knee issue, Ohtani has continued to excel in both of his roles with the Dodgers this season, shouldering a few minor injuries along the way, including a blister on his pitching hand and a separate biceps concern in addition to the knee discomfort.
Offensively, Ohtani has been productive, batting .290 with 20 home runs and 56 RBIs. On the mound, he owns a 1.79 ERA with 95 strikeouts and an 8-2 record, a performance that has underscored his reputation as one of the game’s premier two-way talents. Notably, Ohtani reached a historic milestone on Tuesday by belting his 300th career home run, making him the first player born in Japan to achieve the milestone in MLB history. He had been slated to function as the designated hitter in the All-Star Game, which is scheduled to be held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia next Tuesday.