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Shohei Ohtani is no longer dealing with swelling in his left knee, but the Dodgers are still managing his workload carefully — he will pitch only and not hit during his start against the Tampa Bay Rays, per Dodger Blue. Ohtani sat out one game against the Chicago White Sox over the weekend due to left knee inflammation, and while he’s responded well to the rest and returned to the lineup for the past four games, the club is taking a measured approach with his two-way duties.

Ohtani’s knee issue was a brief scare but never seemed like something that would sideline him for any significant stretch. The fact that the swelling has cleared up is good news. That said, holding him out of the batter’s box on his pitching day tells us the Dodgers aren’t just going to pretend nothing happened. This is smart management of the most valuable player in baseball. You don’t take unnecessary risks with a guy who impacts the game on both sides of the ball the way Ohtani does. He’s been putting together another monster season — the kind of production where even a slight dip would still make him one of the best players in the league. His ability to dominate as both a frontline starter and a middle-of-the-order bat remains unlike anything we’ve seen in the modern era, and protecting that asset is priority number one for this organization.

For those keeping track at home, this isn’t an entirely unusual move for the Dodgers. They’ve periodically given Ohtani pitching-only days throughout the season to manage the overall toll on his body. What makes this one slightly different is the knee context — normally it’s a general load management decision, but here it’s directly tied to a specific physical issue. The positive spin is that he’s healthy enough to pitch at all. If there were any real concern, he’d be scratched entirely.

From a lineup perspective, losing Ohtani’s bat for one game isn’t ideal, but it’s a trade-off we should all be comfortable with. The Dodgers have enough depth to absorb one night without his bat in the order, especially against the Rays. And on the mound, Ohtani has been electric this year — his stuff remains devastating, and if the knee isn’t bothering him mechanically, there’s no reason to expect anything different tonight.

I like the way the Dodgers are handling this. No overreaction, no unnecessary IL stint, but also no stubbornness about pushing him through something that could get worse. The swelling is gone, he’s back in the lineup, and they’re just being smart about the pitching-and-hitting double duty on the same day. That’s exactly the kind of pragmatic approach you need when you’re trying to keep your best player healthy for October.

Source(s): Staff (Dodger Blue) | First reported: June 17, 2026 7:09 AM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers