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Shohei Ohtani will not participate in the 2026 All-Star Game due to injury, and Ken Rosenthal at MSN didn’t sugarcoat his reaction. Rosenthal was, in his words, “brutally honest” about what Ohtani’s absence means — both for the Midsummer Classic and for the Dodgers as they navigate the second half of the season. Losing the game’s biggest draw from the showcase event is a blow to the spectacle, but the real concern is what it signals for our club heading into a stretch where every game matters.

Ohtani has been the most dominant force in baseball since arriving in Los Angeles ahead of the 2024 season. His 10-year, $700 million contract was the largest in sports history, and he’s lived up to it. After winning NL MVP in his first year as a Dodger — mashing 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases in a historic 50/50 season — Ohtani helped carry the franchise to a World Series championship. He followed that up with another monster 2025 campaign, cementing himself as the face of the sport. The plan was always for him to eventually return to two-way duties once his right elbow fully healed from UCL surgery, and his workload has been managed carefully throughout. Any injury that sidelines him, even from an exhibition, gets our full attention.

The specifics of Ohtani’s injury — and exactly how long it might keep him out — remain the key question. Rosenthal’s candidness suggests this isn’t just routine rest or load management being dressed up as something else. When a reporter of Rosenthal’s caliber uses words like “brutally honest,” it usually means the situation deserves more scrutiny than the typical All-Star opt-out. I’d keep a close eye on what the Dodgers say about Ohtani’s status coming out of the break.

This is a roster that’s already dealing with significant pitching absences. Tyler Glasnow has suffered multiple setbacks in his recovery, Blake Snell is working back from elbow surgery, and Brusdar Graterol remains on the injured list. The Dodgers have depth — that’s by design — but losing Ohtani from the lineup for any extended stretch would be a different kind of problem entirely. He’s not a piece you replace. He’s the engine.

For now, we watch and wait for more details on the nature and severity of the injury. The All-Star Game absence itself is cosmetic — nobody’s losing sleep over missing an exhibition. But if this is something that lingers into the second half, it changes the calculus on everything from the trade deadline approach to how aggressively the Dodgers pursue pitching reinforcements. Andy Pages and Max Muncy will represent the club at the All-Star Game, and both have earned it, but the conversation around our roster right now starts and ends with Ohtani’s health. That’s just the reality when you have the best player in baseball on your team — everything else is secondary until we know he’s right.

Source(s): Ken Rosenthal (MSN) | First reported: July 14, 2026 4:52 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers