LOS ANGELES – Shohei Ohtani will be away from the Los Angeles Dodgers for at least Friday as he goes on paternity leave for the birth of his second child.The four-time MVP was at Dodger Stadium earlier on Friday but wasn’t in the lineup against the Baltimore Orioles. The Dodgers did not officially place Ohtani on the paternity list, but a league source said they will wait until Saturday to determine whether they will bring someone up to take Ohtani’s roster spot while the two-way star is away from the club.In their announcement, the Dodgers said they anticipate Ohtani will be back “at some point this weekend.” Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko, welcomed their first child last April.The designated hitter pitched in Wednesday’s series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays, and his time away likely wouldn’t affect his next scheduled start. If things remain as scheduled, that would likely be Wednesday in Minnesota against the Twins.The system Shohei Ohtani used to achieve career goals Elise DevlinFriday will be at least an extra, unexpected day off as the Dodgers monitor Ohtani’s workload in his first full two-way season since 2023. While Ohtani has picked up some minor injuries of late, including a swollen knee that prompted an MRI a week ago and a blister that started bleeding on Wednesday, it’s hard to argue with the results on the field.Ohtani’s 1.47 ERA ranks second in the majors among pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched, and his .963 OPS ranks second among qualified National League hitters.The Dodgers slid Kyle Tucker into Ohtani’s typical leadoff spot on Friday, while Ryan Ward assumed designated hitter duties.The reigning back-to-back World Series champions have built up baseball’s best record even as they’ve been hit by injuries. Manager Dave Roberts’ extensive list of injury updates represented a largely positive development for a club looking to get to full strength, though they are still stalling with their franchise catcher.• Will Smith has not played since June 5 with an inflamed disc in his neck and has stagnated enough that the Dodgers sent him for another scan. Roberts said those test results were “sort of fine, nothing really bad,” but Smith will receive an injection in the area to try to speed up his recovery. He wasn’t activated when he was first eligible on Friday, and he won’t be active at all this weekend against the Orioles. It remains to be determined whether Smith will travel at all with the Dodgers to Minnesota next week, Roberts said.• Teoscar Hernández took part in a simulated game at Dodger Stadium on Thursday and went through his typical routine on Friday afternoon ahead of a potential rehab assignment next week. He will likely play at least four or five games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Roberts said.• A Dodgers bullpen that has had a rocky June (a 6.08 ERA, 27th in the majors) could have reinforcements by early July. Brock Stewart has made three rehab appearances with Class-A Ontario and is “checking all the boxes” for a return. Evan Phillips is nearing the end of his monthlong rehab assignment with Oklahoma City as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery.• Edwin Díaz’s return to the Dodgers’ closer role took a massive step forward Friday when the right-hander fired 15 fastballs off the bullpen mound at Dodger Stadium, which were tracked between 91 and 93 mph.It has been 58 days since Díaz had surgery to remove loose bodies from his right triceps area, and the organization has urged a cautious approach. He did not undergo the same NanoNeedle procedure that Tarik Skubal or teammate Blake Snell had after him, so he is not expected to have the same expedited timeline they had. (Skubal threw his first bullpen session just 12 days after surgery.)“I don’t think it’s going to be too aggressive,” Roberts said. “But I hope that we just keep moving forward and throwing a handful of bullpens, you face some live hitters and then you just go out on a handful, three to five rehab assignment (games) and then you’re back.”Snell, for his part, had surgery a month ago and is nearing his first bullpen session, Roberts said.“He’s pretty amped up,” Roberts said.Jun 20, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms