Shohei Ohtani Hopes Injury-Plagued Season Becomes ‘Learning Experience’

Shohei Ohtani returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup on Wednesday after spending time on the 15-day injured list due to lingering left knee soreness, right bicep/arm discomfort and a recent neck issue.

Ohtani’s IL stint came on the heels of playing in just one game after missing four in a row because of the health issues.

“Disappointing, but I want to make sure that when I look back on this season that I use it as a learning experience and make sure I use it as something to improve upon for next season,” Ohtani recently said through interpreter Will Ireton.

With the regular season now in its final week, the Dodgers are encouraged Ohtani’s physical condition is in a much better place compared to when he was clearly laboring.

“I’m confident that my overall performance should be better moving forward,” Ohtani said days before going on the injured list. “The thing I was more focused on was to make sure the pitching wouldn’t cause the worst scenario, which was for me to not be able to play at all.”

Ohtani didn’t want to use the injuries as an excuse for his slump and was focused on making the necessary adjustments to start producing at his usual levels again.

“I should have enough experience to be able to address any kinks because of injuries or anything like that with the swing, so I’m going to use this as an opportunity to add onto the experience I’ve had previously and be able to address it regardless,” he said.

Given that he wound up receiving a break from playing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani ultimately did not need to make any adjustments in order to navigate the rest of the year.

Dodgers optimistic with Shohei Ohtani

Ohtani has now started in both of the games he’s been active for, once as the No. 2 hitter and the other in his familiar leadoff spot.

While the Dodgers may continue to be flexible with where Ohtani will bat in the lineup, of greater significance is he no longer appears significantly limited by injuries. In particular the right arm had become more of an issue for the superstar.

“He certainly feels way better with the rest. The biggest thing with five games to go is get him as many at-bats as we can, and that rhythm and timing back before we head into October is going to be really helpful,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.

“But the most important thing is how much better he feels. Now it’s about continuing that as he takes game-intensity at-bats.”