Ohtani was supposed to throw a bullpen session recently, and instead he's back to waiting. Per Jon Heyman, the session got scrapped after Ohtani said he didn't feel great following his last one, with Dave Roberts confirming the knee had some regression.
Jon Heyman broke the news that Ohtani's scheduled pen was scrapped and relayed Roberts' reaction.
Shohei Ohtani’s pen session scheduled for today was postponed as he didn’t feel great in his last one. Dave Roberts said he still believes Ohtani will pitch again this season. And while the delay is “a bummer,” Roberts said that’s he’s going to be the MVP, regardless.
MLB Trade Rumors framed it even more bluntly, tagging the setback as a knee "regression" rather than just a scheduling shuffle. That word matters. Ohtani had been building back up, reportedly throwing 30-plus pitches with his full arsenal in a mound session in Philadelphia earlier in the week, and the follow-up was supposed to be another step toward game action. Instead, it's a step back.
MLB Trade Rumors' report put the setback in stark terms: Ohtani skipped his pen with knee regression.
This is a different injury than the elbow that cost Ohtani all of 2024 as a pitcher following his second Tommy John surgery. He returned to the mound in 2025 and was excellent doing it, but the left knee soreness popping up now is its own separate issue tied to the workload of ramping back up as a two-way player. The Dodgers have been managing it carefully all season, and it hasn't affected his bat — he's stayed in the lineup as the DH the whole time.
That's the silver lining Roberts keeps leaning on. He called the delay "a bummer" but said he still expects Ohtani to pitch again this season, and made a point of saying none of it changes his belief that Ohtani will be the MVP regardless. Given what Ohtani's doing at the plate, that's not exactly a stretch — but it does mean the Dodgers are once again in wait-and-see mode with the most valuable arm-slash-bat in the sport.
The bigger picture: LA didn't need Ohtani back on the mound to win games in the regular season, but come October a healthy two-way Ohtani changes the math on their pitching depth entirely. Every setback like this one pushes back the runway for him to build up stamina before the games that actually matter. For now, the plan is just to let the knee calm down and try again — whenever that ends up being.