Amid absolute pandemonium at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, an unexpected cause for concern arose in the Dodgers’ dugout.
Shortly after completing a six-inning, three-run start as a pitcher against the San Diego Padres, Shohei Ohtani was removed from the game as a hitter in the bottom of the seventh, when Miguel Rojas pinch-hit for him shortly after a go-ahead grand slam from Teoscar Hernández in the Dodgers’ come-from-behind 4-3 win.
The reason for Ohtani’s removal: Tightness in his right biceps he had felt during his final at-bat as a hitter in the game.
“Just kinda tightened up on him,” manager Dave Roberts said.
On the bright side, both Ohtani and Roberts described the superstar’s exit as a “precautionary” decision, and downplayed the potential severity of the issue.
However, Roberts said Ohtani would be out of the lineup on Saturday to play things safe.
“We’ll give him a day to fully recover, treat it up,” Roberts said. “And then at that point in time, we’ll just go from there.”
Ohtani did not outwardly appear to be laboring in his two-way performance Friday, even as he grinded through an 110-pitch effort –– which included nine strikeouts, but also nine baserunners allowed (seven hits, two walks), to leave him with a 1.79 ERA on the season and a mediocre 4.38 ERA over his last four starts.
However, during his final at-bat in the bottom of the sixth, he said through an interpreter that he was “a little concerned with my biceps” after feeling something on a swing.
He revealed that he had dealt with similar discomfort a couple months ago, but noted that issue “went away pretty relatively quickly.”
“I expect that to happen again,” he added.
Ohtani’s absence didn’t put a damper on the Dodgers’ comeback Friday. Trailing 3-0 after six dominant innings by Padres ace Michael King, the club rallied in the bottom of the seventh, knocking King out of the game on a leadoff walk from Mookie Betts and single from Max Muncy, before loading the bases against reliever Adrian Morejon when Kyle Tucker’s would-be double-play grounder was booted by Jake Cronenworth at second base.
Just like that, the bases were loaded for Hernández.
And on the first pitch he saw –– a hanging slider over the plate –– the veteran slugger blasted a grand slam that unleashed perhaps the loudest reaction from the crowd all season.
Hernández chucked his bat with an emphatic flip, then rounded the bases as Chavez Ravine shook, helping the Dodgers –– even without Ohtani at the end –– extend their division lead over the Padres to 14 games.
