The Los Angeles Dodgers breathed a sigh of relief on Friday.
Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani had imaging done on his left knee, and it came back clean, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters.
He added that it's "not an IL situation".
Ohtani was left out of the Dodgers' lineup for their game against the Chicago White Sox on Friday night after exiting Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with knee inflammation.
Roberts said the move was precautionary because the Dodgers did not want to risk Ohtani being injured further.
“We tried to be smart about it and get him out of the game,” Roberts said on Thursday. “He told the trainer that he felt a little something behind his knee and I just didn’t see any sense in risking it.”
Roberts said Ohtani could play this weekend and remains in line to make his next scheduled start on the mound on Wednesday.
“He’s doing fine today,” Roberts said before Friday's matchup with the White Sox. “I think that we got some pictures. There was no findings. It’s just the normal wear and tear. I thought initially it was a hamstring, it was the knee. So it just kind of got upset, swelled up a little bit.”
Ohtani, 31, is batting .305 with 13 homers and 40 RBIs in 67 games for the NL West leaders. On the mound, the reigning NL MVP is 6-2 with a 1.06 ERA in 11 starts.
Ohtani had surgery on his left knee in September 2019. Roberts said the swelling is in the back of the knee.
“That’s where a lot of the swelling with the knee kind of like builds,” Roberts said. “But again his range of motion today is good and so if it was another time in the season he’d be in there tonight.”
Ohtani did not speak with the media before the game.
Alex Call was in the leadoff spot for Los Angeles and Santiago Espinal stepped in as the designated hitter.
—With files from The Associated Press
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