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On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers received an injury scare when superstar Shohei Ohtani was hit in the leg by a line drive while pitching against the Colorado Rockies. The hit forced Ohtani to miss the remainder of the game, which he had not been pitching particularly well in up to that point.
Despite the setback, manager Dave Roberts knows that the hit could have been much worse.
“I was just really relieved that it was the thigh, because it hit him flush,” Roberts said after the game, per the Associated Press (via ESPN). “If you're talking about the kneecap, that's a different conversation. When I saw the ball mark on his thigh, I was very relieved, relative to the situation.”
Roberts was reportedly already planning to give Ohtani a rest day on Thursday even before the injury occurred.
“I'm glad it didn't hit the knee,” Ohtani said via an interpreter. “I think we avoided the worst-case scenario. So, I'm going to focus on the treatment.”
Ohtani also spoke on his rough outing on the mound, giving up five earned runs and nine hits in four innings.
“I put the team in a bad spot,” he said. “It was just a very regrettable outing. I wish I could have done better.”
Crisis averted for the Dodgers
Despite Wednesday's rough outing, Ohtani remains far and away the Dodgers' most valuable player and a candidate to win another league MVP award this year.
Ohtani's services on the mound have been especially needed for the Dodgers this year considering the plethora of injuries that they've suffered in that department, and they'll surely want to get him some more reps as a pitcher before the postseason rolls around.
Overall, the Dodgers have been holding steady, currently sitting at 72-55 on the season and in a battle with the San Diego Padres for the division title.
In any case, the Dodgers are set to wrap up their series vs the Rockies on Thursday afternoon before a highly consequential weekend series with the Padres. The MLB postseason is set to begin in October.
