Ohtani left – Shohei Ohtani was removed for a pinch-hitter during the Dodgers’ Thursday, June 11 game at Pittsburgh after left knee inflammation flared “behind the knee; little hamstring.” Manager Dave Roberts said his concern was “not high,” but the Dodgers will monitor hi
Shohei Ohtani was supposed to be running on momentum.
Instead, the Dodgers’ Thursday, June 11 game at Pittsburgh ended with a jolt: Ohtani was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, his left knee acting up just as the two-way star was rounding into one of his best stretches.
The timing mattered. Los Angeles entered the move with a 6-4 lead. and with two runners on. Ohtani was taken out for Santiago Espinal. Ohtani had hit his fifth home run in 13 games earlier in the contest. After homering in the third. he drew a two-out walk in the fifth. but did not need to run the bases when Andy Pages struck out to end the inning.
Ohtani, who turns 32 on July 5, is also in the middle of a deliberate baseball workload adjustment. He had recently returned to two-way duty on nights he pitches, a shift influenced by manager Dave Roberts’ plan to lighten his load “just a bit” this season.
The knee issue came after a strong two-way outing. Ohtani pitched 6⅔ innings against the Pirates on Thursday, giving up three earned runs. A night earlier, his ERA sat at 1.06.
His longer injury history is part of why the Dodgers are watching this development closely. Ohtani has been virtually healthy since injuring his left shoulder in Game 2 of the 2024 World Series. He had off-season shoulder surgery and was prepared to slowly ramp up to pitching duty in 2025 following recovery from a second Tommy John surgery. In the second half of the 2025 season. he took on a full-time starter’s load by the time the Dodgers repeated their run. playing 158 games and starting Game 7 of the World Series on the mound.
This season, his batting has helped carry the team’s punch. He started slowly in the power department, but has built to 13 homers in 63 games, along with a .305 batting average and a .940 OPS.
On the injury itself, the Dodgers were careful with how they framed it. After the game, Roberts said his level of concern was “not high.” Roberts described Ohtani as bothered “behind the knee; little hamstring,” and said the team “just wanted to be smart and not push it.”
Roberts also gave a specific next step. He “feels good about” Ohtani being in the lineup Friday, but the club will keep monitoring him and see how he feels after traveling to Chicago.
The sequence of Thursday’s game and the way the Dodgers responded—pulling him at a key moment in the seventh. then emphasizing that his concern “not high” while the issue is tied to a knee/hamstring area—puts the focus on one question: whether this is a short scare or a problem that lingers after the team moves on to its next city.
Shohei Ohtani Dodgers Pirates left knee inflammation Dave Roberts Santiago Espinal Andy Pages Chicago trip MLB injury update
Knee inflammation again?? dude can’t catch a break.
They say concern is “not high” but they still pulled him like in the 7th. That’s still worrying to me. Also pinch hitter with a 6-4 lead doesn’t make sense unless it was worse than they’re saying.
Wait I thought this was supposed to be about his hamstring not his shoulder. Now it’s like behind the knee and they’re monitoring after travel… so which injury is it lol. Feels like they’re just trying to manage his whole career at this point.
This workload adjustment thing is always the same story. They lighten his load, then he pitches 6 2/3 and hits like normal, and then boom knee problem. I’m not saying it’s fake or anything but the timing sounds convenient. Dodgers are probably protecting him for playoffs already, not because he’s truly hurt.