Shohei Ohtani to miss Dodgers start, All-Star Game with ‘knee irritation’

Shohei Ohtani will not make his scheduled pitching start on Friday night, and will not travel to next week’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia, because of what the Dodgers said was “continued irritation in his left knee,” the same knee in which he dealt with inflammation last month.

The news came in a Friday afternoon announcement from the Dodgers, who said Ohtani will continue to serve as the club’s designated hitter during this weekend’s series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but will then “have some interventions on his knee to put him in the best position for the second half of the season.”

According to a source with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly, the “interventions” on Ohtani’s knee will include having it drained and likely receiving a pain-relieving injection.

NEWS: Dodgers say Shohei Ohtani will not make his pitching start tonight and will not travel to All-Star Game because of “continued irritation in his left knee”

He will DH this weekend, but then have some “interventions” to address his knee problem pic.twitter.com/0BiZYHaTOk

— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) July 10, 2026

“Unfortunately, due to these events, he will not be able to travel to Philadelphia and participate in the 2026 All-Star Game,” the team said.

For now, the initial expectation is that Ohtani will be able to return to two-way duties, including pitching, when the season resumes after the All-Star break.

Ohtani first dealt with his knee problem a month ago, following a June 10 pitching start against the Pittsburgh Pirates –– when he felt like poor pitching mechanics had put added stress on his left landing leg.

The following day, he was removed early from the Dodgers’ game as a DH because of swelling in his knee. He missed another game the next day, as well, before returning to the lineup and resuming his full-time two-way role since.

The Dodgers had downplayed the severity of Ohtani’s knee issue since then, even though he had continued to receive treatment on the issue and was seen wearing a sleeve over his knee.

Two weeks ago, manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani’s knee was still “not 100%, but it’s certainly playable.”

Indeed, Ohtani had continued to play almost daily over the last month, with two exceptions: A pitching start he had pushed back a couple days earlier this month, which the team described as simply workload management; and a game he missed as a hitter last week, after dealing with brief bicep discomfort.

Back in 2019, Ohtani had surgery on the same left knee to address a rare congenital condition called bipartite patella –– when the bones of the kneecap don’t fuse together at birth.

However, Roberts has said he does not believe this year’s knee problem was related to that previous issue.

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Ohtani has been putting together another MVP-caliber performance overall this season.

He is batting .290 at the plate with 20 home runs, 56 RBIs and a .939 OPS that ranks sixth-best in the majors. He is 8-2 as a pitcher with a 1.79 ERA, second-best in the majors among pitchers with at least 80 innings.

Going back to that June 10 start in which he first dealt with his knee issue, though, he has given up at least three runs in four consecutive outings, sporting a 4.38 ERA over that time.