Shohei Ohtani out for second straight game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts 'hopeful' star will avoid IL

Shohei Ohtani is out of the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup for the second consecutive game on Friday, sidelined by assorted injuries that have him "day-to-day," according to manager Dave Roberts.

Ohtani also sat out Thursday's 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals after he struck out four times in Wednesday's game. That performance led Roberts to tell reporters, "He's not close to optimal."

Despite Ohtani being out of the lineup, Roberts believes the reigning National League MVP will avoid going on the injured list. However, he didn't discount the possibility entirely.

"Hopeful," Roberts told reporters, including The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya . "I wouldn't say confident, but hopeful."

Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes echoed that sentiment, saying he doesn't want to go 10 days or more without Ohtani in the lineup.

"I think not having Shohei in the lineup for 10 days or whatever it would be is something that we would prefer not to do," Gomes said, via MLB.com's Sonja Chen . "It really hasn't even been something that we've discussed."

Alex Call is in the Dodgers' lineup at designated hitter and batting seventh in Friday's matchup with the Washington Nationals. Tommy Edman is leading off and playing center field.

Ohtani, 32, has been dealing with lingering pain in his right biceps and left knee that initially delayed the two-way star from returning to the mound. Those issues are now affecting the four-time MVP's hitting as well.

In August, Ohtani hit six home runs but tallied only three doubles while compiling a .241/.322/.472 slash line across 121 plate appearances. Those numbers were far below what he'd been producing for the previous four months of the season.

With that August dip, Ohtani is tied for 10th in MLB with 30 home runs and 18th with 80 RBI. His slash line is .279/.381/.525, and his .906 OPS still ranks fourth among MLB hitters.

At 83-57 going into Friday's game, the Dodgers are tied with the Atlanta Braves for the second-best record in MLB and hold a 9.5-game lead in the NL West with 22 games remaining.