Shohei Ohtani Injury Update Provided by Dodgers Manager, Latest Timeline for Star's Return

Having been bothered by knee and arm issues for some time now, the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to place Shohei Ohtani on the 10-day injured list.

Speaking to reporters after the Dodgers' 14-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts said he is "very" confident Ohtani will be much better with two weeks to rest.

"If it were a postseason game tomorrow, he would be in the lineup. Now you're talking about two weeks, 14 days. I feel that it's that substantial. He'll be in a much better place than he was today. Is it going to be 100%? Probably not. But I do think, with this time that we're taking now, he'll be in an adequate spot to finish the season and beyond."

Ohtani sat six of the previous seven games, including Wednesday night, in an attempt to rest his knee and biceps.

Since the Dodgers are off on Thursday, they don't technically have to put Ohtani on the IL until Friday. If they wait to do so, the first date he will be eligible to return is Sept. 21. The Dodgers will have six games remaining in the regular season at that point.

In a corresponding move, the Dodgers plan to call up top prospect Josue De Paula to take Ohtani's spot on the 26-man roster. The 21-year-old was originally signed as an international free agent in January 2022.

De Paula is ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect in MLB, per B/R's Joel Reuter . He is hitting .303/.341/.547 with 27 homers, 104 RBI and 31 stolen bases in 124 games at Double-A this season.

Per The Athletic's Katie Woo , this is the first time during Andrew Friedman's tenure as president of baseball operations (since October 2014) the Dodgers are promoting a prospect directly from Double-A to the big leagues.

Roberts noted De Paula is expected to receive the "lion's share" of his reps at DH, according to Woo.

Ohtani's knee and biceps issues first started earlier in the summer, preventing him from pitching since his last start on July 3. His offense had been going strong until recently as he is hitting .130/.288/.241 with three extra-base hits and 22 strikeouts in 66 plate appearances since Aug. 18.

Despite not having Ohtani available for most of the past week, the Dodgers haven't skipped a beat. They are in the midst of a season-high seven-game winning streak and their magic number to clinch the NL West is down to six.

This will mark Ohtani's first IL stint since September 2023, his final season with the Los Angeles Angels.