LOS ANGELES — Even Shohei Ohtani isn't sure about the extent of injuries to his right biceps, left knee and neck that kept him off the mound after the All-Star break and landed him on the injured list for the first time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, as Los Angeles prepares to open its bid for a third consecutive World Series championship Saturday against Atlanta in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium under an extreme heat warning.
"I haven't been able to get a good grasp of the root cause of all this, so I think that process is going to happen during the offseason when I'm going have a little bit more time to be able to address it," he said Friday through a translator. "As of now, it's something I'm just going to have to manage." Manager Dave Roberts said he isn't sure what Ohtani can deliver, adding, "I know that once the lights turn on, the postseason starts, the focus will be heightened. I expect good things. I really do. We just haven't seen it enough for me to forecast it." Ohtani came off the IL with just five games remaining in the regular season, going 5 for 21 with eight strikeouts, a walk and a double, though the Dodgers said he is feeling better and Roberts believes his at-bat quality showed improvement. "(My body) feels really good overall," Ohtani said. "I do feel like my swing is in a better place — it feels smooth. Just little tweaks here and there and I'll be ready."
Ohtani, who throws right-handed and bats left-handed, was single when he went on the IL twice during his six years with the Los Angeles Angels and is now married and a father of two, with his son arriving in late June to join a daughter born in April 2025. "If I'd been by myself this time, I probably would have had a lot more time to think about everything, and I imagine it would have been much harder mentally," he said in Japanese. "But I had a house full of people around me, so that made a big difference in terms of how I felt." He explained he was better able to use his left arm with his daughter, while his infant son requires two arms to hold, which limited him because of the right biceps injury. Ohtani took live batting practice against countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto earlier in the week, their first matchup since 2017 in Nippon Professional Baseball when Ohtani struck out and singled off Yamamoto. "I think it was a valuable experience for both of us in terms of getting some game-like repetitions. I got to take a few at-bats and see all of his different pitches," Ohtani said in Japanese. "It was a lot of fun. It felt fresh and exciting. His stuff also felt quite different from what I remembered."
The Braves enter the Division Series with a strained rotation after their three-game win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card Series forced ace Chris Sale into pitching the final four outs on short rest Thursday night. Sale threw 95 pitches while starting Game 1, leaving his possible start in Game 2 of the NLDS up in the air. "A lot of it's going to depend on how Chris feels. Certainly don't want to jeopardize him and his health," manager Walt Weiss said Friday. "He's had to grind here recently, so we're going to err on the side of giving him more rest, if it's even close." On Thursday, the Braves ruled out starters Martín Pérez (back) and Bryce Elder (knee) for the NLDS. "There's a chance we're going to have to pitch a lot of innings out of our bullpen, especially the first couple games," Weiss said. "We'll have to add some arms to the roster." Atlanta had a late night after eliminating the Phillies and traveling Friday to Los Angeles, where the Dodgers have been resting and preparing for five days. "My world is spinning right now," Weiss said.
Saturday's day game is forecast for a high of 100 degrees (38 Celsius) when Tarik Skubal takes the mound for the Dodgers, well above the early October average high of 81 degrees, with Sunday's 8 p.m. EDT start projected for 99 degrees. "I know the pitchers are going to have a hard time," Ohtani said. "I'm wishing all the best for Scooby." Skubal, who grew up in Kingman, Arizona, where the average July temperature is 96 degrees (35 Celsius), said he'll drink plenty of water Saturday. "You're just not going to the bathroom because you're probably sweating it out," he said. The highest game-time temperature ever recorded at Dodger Stadium is 103 degrees (39 Celsius), recorded twice — Oct. 24, 2017, for Game 1 of the World Series against Houston and Sept. 8, 2024, for a regular-season game against Cleveland. The Dodgers are encouraging fans to wear hats and sunscreen and are allowing non-alcoholic drinks of one liter or less in factory-sealed plastic bottles and empty refillable water bottles, with bottle filling stations and water fountains around the stadium. The matchup renews a familiar October rivalry as Dodgers and Braves renew rivalry in NLDS at Dodger Stadium with Atlanta's pitching depth already tested.