Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani will not need offseason surgery despite missing several weeks of the regular season with various injuries and looking like a shell of himself throughout the team’s short-lived postseason run.
Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman told reporters earlier this week that Ohtani surgery is off the table in the coming months and the four-time MVP award winner will instead rest in hopes of starting next year healthy and refreshed.
Friedman also noted that he fully expected Ohtani to be back on the mound in 2027, despite some concerns from fans and analysts about the wear and tear that his body experienced while trying to contribute on both sides of the ball.
“We have to all just figure it out together,” Friedman told reporters. “And I’m not only expecting him to pitch—we’re excited about him pitching. So now it’s about, ‘How do we do that? How do we manage through a long season and have him at his best going into October?’ That’s a challenge.”
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Injuries behind the Ohtani surgery question
Ohtani was pulled from pitching duty in July after picking up a couple of nagging injuries to his knee and biceps. He was later placed on the injured list toward the end of the 2026 regular season after those injuries continued to affect his performance at the plate.
When the Japanese phenom returned to Los Angeles’ starting lineup, those struggles continued and his place in the batting order dropped to the lowest levels of his Dodgers career. There was even serious consideration internally about whether Dave Roberts should bench his star in favor of the team’s top prospect, Josue De Paula.
Over a brutal two-month stretch starting in August, Ohtani recorded only one RBI and zero home runs before finally breaking through in the final game of the year with a three-run jack in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium.
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Despite looking nothing like the offensive juggernaut that fans have come to expect, Ohtani didn’t blame injuries for his struggles. Instead, he said poor body mechanics were the culprit—something he’ll have plenty of time to tinker with in the coming months.
This will be the longest offseason for the Dodgers since Ohtani joined the team during the 2023 offseason; with a possible lockout looming, baseball’s living GOAT may have all the time in the world to get right before MLB play resumes.
Ohtani finished the 2026 regular season batting .275 with 30 home runs, 81 RBI and an OPS of .889. As a pitcher, he went 8-2 in 14 starts, finishing with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts. His combined WAR as a hitter and pitcher was 6.5, tied for the ninth-highest in Major League Baseball.
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