Dodgers rest Shohei Ohtani as knee problem sparks

In the latest twist in Shohei Ohtani’s battle with left knee discomfort, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts held him out of the lineup Thursday against the Seattle Mariners.

Ohtani reported soreness Wednesday night time in his left knee, which he handled over the All-Star break with a lubricating orthovisc injection and rest. So the Dodgers’ training workers advisable a time off.

“I expected him to play,” Roberts said. “I appreciate him saying that there’s some soreness to then allow me to make a decision of what is in his best interest, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Roberts said he’s “very confident” that Ohtani will likely be in the lineup Friday when the Dodgers open a three-game sequence against the Boston Red Sox.

But the Dodgers beforehand believed only pitching aggravated the injury. Ohtani hasn’t pitched in a recreation since July 3, and he hasn’t thrown off a mound in a little over a week. He’s been operating through weighted plyo ball drills to keep his arm in form without placing stress on his knee.

It raises questions about how to best handle Ohtani for the rest of the season.

“I’m trying to restrain from a forecast of what’s going to happen, as opposed to just reading and reacting,” Roberts said. “Three days ago, we just had an off day, and to say there’s some soreness certainly is different than what we’ve done the last two weeks. Is it a trend? I hope not. But if it is, then we just got to manage it.”

Roberts said he didn’t imagine any particular incident Wednesday aggravated Ohtani’s knee.

“The last couple days he’s been on base a lot more,” Roberts said. “So I think that’s been a good thing in one sense, whereas the last part of the road trip he wasn’t, so there might have been a little something to that.”

Ohtani also talked about earlier this week that his biceps problem, which flared for the second time this season during his last at-bat July 3, has not utterly subsided. But the Dodgers have downplayed the severity of that ailment and are under the impression that throwing doesn’t damage it.

When requested if the crew would think about shutting down Ohtani for 10 days to help him totally get well, Roberts said: “That’s a hard question and I understand the thought behind it. But it’s gotten better over the last few weeks, markedly. He’s been a very productive player. … You trust him. He feels like he can go.

“He’s not 100%; very few players are 100%. Then what is it? Is it 70%, is it 80%, is it 90%? For me, there’s still that conversation, where he understands the most important part of the season is to come, and he understands his value with our team.”

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hits a home run against the Seattle Mariners at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

It doesn’t appear to be the Dodgers are prepared to put Ohtani on the injured checklist just yet. Roberts said he hopes Ohtani will start taking part in catch this weekend or next week.

The Dodgers, however, had expressed hope that the injection and time off over the break would forestall Ohtani from having to handle the problem. That no longer appears to be in play.

“We’re talking about this constantly, we are,” Roberts said. “And nothing should be off the table and nothing is set in stone. So I think it’s more of how he feels. This surprised me. So now with this new information we’ve got to have new conversations.”