CHICAGO — It’s Sho time again.
Shohei Ohtani’s absence from the Dodgers’ lineup with a sore left knee lasted just one game. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he spoke with Ohtani on Saturday and “he feels good, wants to play,” so he was back in the starting lineup for the second game of the series against the Chicago White Sox.
“Shohei drove it. Training staff drove it,” Roberts said of the decision. “We took him out of the game the other night just for precautionary reasons. Yesterday treated it up. Today he feels great. All the confidence that he can go out there and hit, feel good, not regress at all.
“I think he’s going to go out there and play catch today just to see how he feels playing catch. But as far as the hitting side, we feel good about it.”
Ohtani’s next pitching start is scheduled for Wednesday. Roberts said he doesn’t expect that to be impacted.
“I think we’re full go,” he said. “But I do think once he’s out there playing catch and we see how his knee responds to the pressure, the torque will be some good information.”
That “full go” does not extend to running the bases. Roberts said Ohtani will “absolutely” be told to be measured about how he extends himself on the bases.
“There will be no basestealing,” Roberts said.
Ohtani was pulled from Thursday’s game in Pittsburgh when he felt discomfort in the back of his left knee. He underwent an MRI on Friday in Chicago that showed no structural damage, only inflammation. Roberts said that swelling is gone now.