Ohtani’s ERA – Shohei Ohtani’s dominance has slipped in his last two starts, with his ERA rising to 1.47 after a June 17 outing against the Tampa Bay Rays that included four runs in the fifth. The Dodgers still won, but Ohtani is navigating left knee inflammation recovery an
Shohei Ohtani walked out to the mound with one obvious goal: keep the game in his control. Instead, on June 17, the Tampa Bay Rays sent him into a fifth inning that looked nothing like the early-season version of the Dodgers ace.
In that frame, the Rays batted around, striking for four runs. Ohtani surrendered four singles, a double, and a walk before the inning ended. After it was over. cameras caught small traces of blood on his pants from his pitching hand’s middle finger—an abrupt visual reminder that his body still isn’t running on full steam. He still came out to pitch a scoreless sixth and even served as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the inning.
The Dodgers escaped anyway. Freddie Freeman delivered a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth, erasing a deficit and giving Los Angeles a 5-4 lead. The bullpen preserved it. L.A.’s relievers then combined for nine scoreless innings in the three-game sweep of the Rays.
The victory helped mask the bigger issue: the spike in Ohtani’s recent performance. After being virtually untouchable through his first nine appearances—giving up one or no runs in eight of his first nine starts—Ohtani is now in what amounts to a two-start funk. His ERA after Wednesday’s start stood at 1.47. elite on paper. but far from where he was when he was last truly untouchable.
A week earlier in Pittsburgh, Ohtani entered the game with an absurd 0.74 ERA. That night, he allowed a season-high 10 baserunners and gave up a season-high three earned runs to the Pirates. The day after, he was removed from the game due to left knee inflammation.
Ohtani sat out just one game as the DH. and manager Dave Roberts said he remained on track to make his assignment against the Rays. Roberts sent him out anyway. even with the knee and the earlier discomfort. and Ohtani handled the decision with the calm tone of someone trying to keep the focus on the outcome.
“It’s just part of the game. Not a lot of situations where you feel 100% so I took it as that,” Ohtani told reporters via translator Will Ireton. “It was big we were able to win a game like this.”
The roughness didn’t come out of nowhere. The inning included a moment that illustrated how quickly small breakdowns can snowball. After a groundball to Freeman at first base. cameras showed Ohtani covering the bag a bit late; Freeman glanced toward second. freezing Ohtani in his off-the-mound journey. What followed flipped a 2-0 Dodgers lead into a 4-2 deficit.
Even with that, Ohtani’s stat line still shows why the game plan didn’t entirely unravel. After his first five starts set a standard he barely missed. Wednesday’s line was still heavy enough to keep the team afloat: seven-hit. four-run. one-walk. five-strikeout work against the Rays. followed by a scoreless sixth.
Then came the second problem, the one that adds a different kind of uncertainty. Along with the left knee inflammation recovery, the middle-finger issue may be something the Dodgers now have to monitor. Roberts spoke to that tension directly, pointing to how they’re balancing immediate results with preservation.
“My every intention was to start today’s game,” Ohtani said. “Didn’t really feel like that was not going to be an option not to pitch.”
Roberts said he felt confident sending Ohtani back out for the sixth despite the rough fifth inning and the knee and finger issues. He said the team wanted to avoid lower-leverage relievers before aligning for the seventh, eighth, and ninth.
“He still always finds a way to manage innings and make pitches when he needs to,” Roberts said. “I think he’s still kind of working through delivery stuff with the knee.”
Roberts also addressed what comes next. He said that “right now. ” Ohtani would be fine to make his next start one week from now. and that the team will revisit his use of a topical skin adhesive on the middle finger. When asked about the last two starts and the idea that Ohtani wouldn’t be flawless. Roberts delivered the kind of line that lands because it sounds like a manager trying to recalibrate expectations without ignoring the evidence.
“I don’t think anyone expected him,” Roberts said, “to never give up any runs.”
The sequence is stark: a season that once featured near-imperceptible margins has tightened into a stretch where a single inning can reshape the numbers. One week after an ERA of 0.74 in Pittsburgh and the next day removal tied to left knee inflammation. Ohtani returned against Tampa Bay and watched the Rays manufacture momentum in the fifth. The Dodgers won. Freeman’s go-ahead home run and nine scoreless innings from the bullpen taking the sting out of the box score—yet the physical questions remain. and they now sit alongside the statistical shift.
For Ohtani, the goal is simple: keep finding a way through the inning-by-inning realities of health and execution. For the Dodgers, the job is equally plain—manage the calendar, manage usage, and make sure the two issues don’t become one larger problem as the season moves forward.
Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Dodgers Tampa Bay Rays June 17 left knee inflammation middle finger issue ERA Freddie Freeman Dave Roberts