As Shohei Ohtani continues to deal with a lingering knee injury, the Dodgers have opted to keep him out of the pitching rotation for his next scheduled start, which was originally set for Wednesday, July 22. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday that it may be a while until Ohtani returns to his duties as a pitcher, as L.A. aims to prioritize caution with its two-way superstar. “His knee, we just want to continue to give it the best chance to kind of get into a good spot. And as he said, as we feel, it’s the pitching and the torque of landing on that leg that kind of gets it upset,” Robert explained, via the NY Post. Ohtani felt discomfort in his knee while playing catch over the weekend. That development came after Ohtani was scratched from his final start before the All-Star break, and sat out the Midsummer Classic entirely in order to rest the knee. Now, as the injury lingers, the Dodgers don’t have a timeline for when the 32-year-old will be back on the mound during the second half of the season. “It’s not going to be a day-to-day thing,” Roberts said. “The first step is getting him into a spot where he feels like, and we feel like, he can pitch and not regress. At that point in time, we can kind of read and react. I just can’t even answer [when that might be] right now.”Keeping Ohtani healthy, or at least as healthy as he can be, is crucial for the Dodgers. So, while it’s unfortunate that he won’t be part of the team’s rotation for the time being, it’s undoubtedly the right call. Los Angeles already sits 12 games ahead of the second-place Padres in the NL West. The team is currently tracking to be the No. 1 seed in the National League, and is effectively a lock for the postseason. After all, the Dodgers are vying to complete the first World Series three-peat since the Yankees did it from 1998 to 2000. Having their best player at full strength in the playoffs will be critical towards achieving that goal. With Blake Snell currently on his way back from injury—having recently been sent out on a rehab assignment—letting Ohtani get back to full strength is a wise move. When Snell is back, he can assume Ohtani’s vacant rotation spot, and Tyler Glasnow should be ready to rejoin the mix at some point in August, too. They could also look to make a splash at the trade deadline in order to bring in another arm, as the team boasts a loaded farm system in addition to its league-best MLB roster. There are plenty of ways the Dodgers can navigate Ohtani’s absence from the mound, especially considering their success in the first half of the season, which has them comfortably in position to reach the postseason. The team wants to continue deploying a six-man rotation, and bullpen games are certainly in the cards in the meantime as they await Snell’s return. Ohtani will continue to serve as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter and DH even while he’s unavailable to pitch. Although his arm will be out of commission for a while, the team will still get his invaluable production atop the batting order. And come October, when the team gears up for another run to the World Series, Ohtani’s knee will (hopefully) be at a point where he’s able to re-take the mound. Roberts indicated that Ohtani “could” pitch presently, though the risk of further aggravating his injury outweighs the benefits of having him pitching every six or seven days. He did make clear when speaking to reporters Sunday, however, that the team is still expecting Ohtani to pitch again in 2026. More MLB from Sports IllustratedAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow