LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani strolled into the Los Angeles Dodgers’ clubhouse at 2:30 p.m. Monday, slipped into workout gear and resumed his season after a four-game absence from the reigning back-to-back World Series champions. His job the rest of the way will be different from what the two-way star signed up for.Ohtani is not expected to pitch the rest of the season, he said after going hitless in his return to the lineup during the Dodgers’ 6-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. He confirmed what has become obvious over the last week and ever since he last pitched in a big-league game July 3: If Ohtani helps the Dodgers the rest of the season, it will be as a hitter.“I’m going to be focusing on hitting moving forward,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton.Is Shohei Ohtani really a 'sit' in fantasy?Ohtani, who has not played since appearing physically compromised Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals, returned to the leadoff spot as the designated hitter Monday. The four-time MVP reported enough improvement in his nagging left knee, right biceps and neck injuries to warrant returning for the final 19 games of the regular season as a hitter.Monday was an inauspicious return. A Dodger Stadium crowd of 50,293 roared when he stepped to the plate for the first time in five days, hoping the words of Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good” were indeed true as the song blared throughout the stadium.“It felt like, ‘Long time, no see,’” Ohtani said.Ohtani swung at the second pitch he saw, hitting a flyout to left field. He struck out in his next two at-bats, drew a walk and reported no signs of discomfort. That qualified as a positive, manager Dave Roberts said.By all accounts, he is feeling good — or good enough.The four consecutive missed games were the longest Ohtani had been out of the lineup since signing with the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season and reflect the hurdles that have come with the pursuit of his first full-time two-way season since 2023.Those plans are all but kaput, which Ohtani called “disappointing.” The potential risks for the Dodgers’ hopes of a three-peat were too great, Ohtani said in his first time speaking to reporters in 21 days.“I think the thing that I was more focused on was making sure that the pitching wouldn’t cause the worse scenario, which was for me to not be able to play at all,” Ohtani said.Even if Ohtani were physically able to pitch at this point, he would have been running out of time. His last attempt to ramp up on the mound last month was scuttled just days before he was expected to start Aug. 31 against the Detroit Tigers, and days later, he looked worn down by the whole ordeal. The club already has a wealth of starting pitching, with Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow all part of the projected playoff rotation.The Dodgers just need Ohtani’s bat.Los Angeles won all four games without Ohtani, as other figures in its star-studded lineup, such as Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández, have put together their share of offensive moments. The morass the lineup played through for much of July and August has subsided in September as the Dodgers have played lesser opponents.Still, it is difficult to argue Ohtani’s biggest impact for the Dodgers will be with his bat.“I think he’s our best hitter,” Roberts said of Ohtani, whose 30 home runs and .902 OPS at the plate this season can be considered a disappointment only when compared with the consecutive historic 50-homer seasons that preceded it.“I’m confident that my overall performance should be better moving forward,” Ohtani said.Not pitching should help at least avoid a scenario in which he suffers a setback in the knee or biceps, which Ohtani said were the most pressing of his numerous physical ailments. He still is not 100 percent with either, and he isn’t expected to be before the Dodgers are counting on him again in October.Ohtani’s four-day hiatus was largely about getting him back to the best version of himself at the plate. He had six hits in his last 46 at-bats before being shut down, including a hitless night when he struck out four times against the Cardinals and was shaking his arm out between each swing by the end of the night.The Dodgers minimized his workload Thursday, had him swinging in the cage by Saturday and, in the eighth inning Sunday, had him going over scouting reports with Ireton to prepare for a potential pinch hit appearance. If anything reflected how good Ohtani felt after the respite, it was the 32-year-old star jokingly asking Roberts whether the manager wanted him to pinch run during Sunday’s 7-5 win over the Washington Nationals.Now, with a cleaner bill of health, Ohtani said the results should follow.“I should have enough experience to be able to address any kinks or injuries or anything like that with the swing,” Ohtani said.The Dodgers have stood by their level of communication with Ohtani throughout the summer as he navigated his series of nagging injuries. They sat him for a game after he complained of a flare-up with his biceps July 3, the same day he pitched in a game for the last time in 2026. They had Ohtani use his All-Star break to receive a “lubricant” injection to help out his painful left knee. They have gone through stops and starts with Ohtani’s pitching progression ever since.Should Ohtani do a better job communicating how he is feeling to the organization?“It’s hard to say now with the season still going on,” Ohtani said. “It’s something that I’m going to reflect back on during the offseason. I’m just making sure that I’m focusing on the now and finishing strong.”