Shohei Ohtani's path back to the mound has all but disappeared for 2026, with Dave Roberts saying the Dodgers two-way star is not going to pitch in the foreseeable future and has no timetable to pick up a baseball.
That is a notable turn for a team that had been trying to rebuild Ohtani's pitching workload gradually, with the hope that he could eventually be available as a normal starter in the postseason. Instead, the Dodgers now appear prepared to move forward without that option for the rest of the season.
Ohtani himself sounded resigned to that reality. Speaking through an interpreter on September 7, 2026, he said he would concentrate just on hitting for the remainder of the season. He also described the situation as disappointing, even as he made clear that protecting his overall availability mattered most.
"The thing I was more focused on was to make sure that the pitching wouldn’t cause the most worst scenario, which was for me to not be able to play at all," Ohtani said through an interpreter.
The setback traces back to August 28, when Ohtani cut short a bullpen session because of discomfort in his right knee and a sore right biceps. He had not thrown a pitch in a big league game over the two months before September 6, and the recent interruption effectively shut down the comeback plan the Dodgers had been following.
What it means for the Dodgers
For Los Angeles, the immediate impact is simple: Ohtani's value for the rest of 2026 is going to come at DH, not on the mound. That matters because the Dodgers had been planning around the possibility of using him on the pitching side in the playoffs, but Roberts' latest comments suggest that door is closed for now.
The timing also adds another layer to Ohtani's season. Over his last 109 plate appearances, he has hit.200/.303/.400 with four home runs. So even as the pitching return fades, the Dodgers still need him to be a productive bat in the middle of the lineup.
There is also a roster note tied to his two-way status. Because Ohtani is treated differently as a pitcher and position player, he has to be placed on the 15-day injured list for pitchers rather than the 10-day IL for position players. That is part of the unusual framework that has shaped his season from the start.
For now, the message from Roberts is straightforward, and it leaves little room for optimism about a late-2026 return to the mound. The Dodgers will keep waiting on the pitching side, but the focus has shifted fully to what Ohtani can do at the plate.
