LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani will have his left knee drained on Sunday to relieve continued irritation, and the procedure will force him to miss next week’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia. Ohtani will have fluid removed from his left knee following a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in which he will continue to start at designated hitter. Ohtani had been scheduled to pitch on Friday night, but the Dodgers instead decided to make it a bullpen game to avoid further aggravating the ongoing discomfort in his left knee. Ohtani has been dealing with the ailment for at least a month. The right-hander had an outing cut short against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 11 because of inflammation in the knee. “He’s been managing this quite well,” manager Dave Roberts said before Friday’s game. “If there’s a chance that we could kind of be proactive and get it drained and do whatever we need to do to kind of try to manage it, along with the rest for the All-Star break, we were going to do that.” The four-time MVP has once again been one of the best players in the big leagues this season, and he stands alone as a two-way player. Ohtani is batting .290 with 20 homers and 56 RBIs and is 8-2 on the mound with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings. However, his effectiveness on the mound has diminished somewhat in Ohtani’s past four starts. He allowed 12 earned runs in 24 2/3 innings in a span corresponding with the left knee irritation. Ohtani had given up five runs in his first 10 starts. “I think that our hope is if we can (have Ohtani) not make this start ... (and) kind of get the inflammation out, you know, get strong, recover body-wise, then I think he should be in a much better spot,” Roberts said. The Dodgers don’t expect the procedure will affect Ohtani’s availability as a pitcher in the second half of the season, but Roberts said it was too early to know where he would be slotted in the Dodgers’ six-man rotation following the All-Star break. Los Angeles starts an East Coast road trip next Friday with a three-game set against the New York Yankees. Ohtani’s absence will be a blow for baseball’s midsummer showcase at Citizens Bank Park. The Japanese star — who turned 32 earlier this week — is among the game’s most popular players and led MLB in jersey sales last year. He hit his 300th career homer on Tuesday night, a leadoff shot against Colorado’s Michael Lorenzen that made him the first Japanese-born player in the majors to reach the milestone. The Dodgers are the two-time defending World Series champions since adding Ohtani in free agency on a record-breaking 10-year contract in December 2023. Los Angeles had baseball’s best record at 61-33 entering Friday. Being in contention to pull off the major leagues’ first three-peat since the 1998-2000 Yankees factored into Ohtani’s willingness to miss the All-Star Game. “Nothing is going to fall in front of being healthy for October,” Roberts said. “For him to concede and miss a start for the best interests of him and the team, that’s not a surprise.” St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Iván Herrera was named as a replacement to the National League All-Star team on Friday after Ohtani was ruled out of the game. ___ AP Baseball Writer David Brandt contributed to this report. Dan Greenspan, The Associated Press
