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Shohei Ohtani wasted no time making his presence felt after sitting out one game with left knee soreness, launching a leadoff homer and drawing three walks in his return to the Dodgers lineup against the White Sox on Friday, per the LA Times. Ohtani spoke after the game about how the knee responded — and the short version is he’s not worried.

The leadoff homer was vintage Ohtani. He’s been one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball since arriving in Los Angeles before the 2024 season, signing the largest contract in professional sports history at $700 million over 10 years. After undergoing UCL surgery that kept him off the mound through 2024, Ohtani returned as a two-way player in 2025 and continued to produce at an elite level at the plate throughout. The left knee has been a topic of conversation given his prior surgical history — he had knee surgery during the 2024 offseason — and any time he leaves a game or misses time, it understandably raises eyebrows. But his performance Friday was as emphatic an answer as you could ask for. A leadoff homer says “I’m fine” louder than any quote can.

The three walks are just as telling, honestly. That kind of plate discipline — on a night where he could have been pressing after missing a game — shows Ohtani was locked in and seeing the ball well. He wasn’t swinging out of his shoes trying to prove something. He took what the White Sox pitching staff gave him, and when they threw him something he could drive, he drove it out of the park. That’s what elite hitters do.

I flagged this earlier in the week: the Dodgers were optimistic the knee issue was minor, and they appear to have been right. Holding him out for one game against the worst team in baseball was the smart, conservative play, and it paid off. No IL stint, no extended absence — just a breather and then right back to mashing.

For the Dodgers, this is the best possible outcome during a stretch where the injury news has been relentless. With Will Smith already sidelined and the pitching staff dealing with its own issues, losing Ohtani for any meaningful stretch would have been a serious blow. Instead, he’s back in the middle of the lineup doing exactly what they’re paying him to do. The health picture across the roster is still messy — we’ve got guys on rehab assignments, guys on the IL, and a bullpen that’s been shaky in June — but our best player being healthy and productive is the one thing that makes everything else more manageable. Friday night was a good reminder of that.

Source(s): Staff (LA Times) | First reported: June 14, 2026 12:46 AM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers