Shohei Ohtani partially dislocates his left shoulder during World Series Game 2

By Joe Reedy, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES – Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani partially dislocated his left shoulder during the seventh inning of Saturday’s Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Yankees while trying to steal second base.

Ohtani’s status for Monday’s Game 3 in New York is unclear. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani “had a minor subluxation of the left shoulder” and would undergo imaging testing Saturday night or Sunday.

Ohtani clutched his left forearm after being tagged by shortstop Anthony Volpe for the final out of the inning on a feet-first slide. He lay with the bag for a few minutes before being attended to by trainers and leaving the field.

“We’ll know more in the coming days,” Roberts said. “The power was great. The range of motion is good. So we are encouraged. But obviously I can’t speculate because we don’t have the scans yet. We’ll know more once we get the scans. Again, now that the strength and range of motion are good, that is definitely a positive.”

The Dodgers held on a 4-2 victory and led the Series 2-0.

The Japanese slugger – and presumptive National League MVP – was 0 for 3 with a walk in the game. He is 1 for 8 in the first two games of the Fall Classic and is hitting .260 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in his first postseason in the majors.

“That was tough. You never like to see the best player in the game get injured like that,” Yankees superstar Aaron Judge said. “If you try to steal a base like that, something like that happens. But hopefully it’s all good news. We’ll see what happens.”

Ohtani was one of the few players on the Dodgers roster to get through the season without a major injury. The pitching staff has been ravaged by injuries, with nearly every member of the starting rotation spending time on the injured list.

Among position players, Mookie Betts was out nearly two months due to a broken left hand, and Max Muncy was out nearly half the season due to a right oblique strain. Freddie Freeman is playing in the postseason with a severely sprained right ankle.

Betts is optimistic the Dodgers can persevere with Ohtani sidelined, especially after the team overcame injuries while posting the most wins in the Majors during the regular season and reaching the World Series for the fourth time in eight seasons.

“We have a great group of guys here and I believe we can definitely handle things. I believe in all of us,” Betts said.

Most of Ohtani’s injuries since coming to the Majors in 2018 have been pitching-related, including major surgeries on his right elbow in 2018 and last year. The two-way phenom didn’t pitch this year, but became the first player in Major League history with at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season.

In September 2019, he underwent surgery on his left kneecap due to a rare condition. The procedure took place on his two-piece patella, or a two-piece kneecap that did not fuse at birth.

Ohtani missed the 2017 World Baseball Classic after ankle surgery due to an injury suffered during the 2016 Japan Series.

“When you have a group like that, they pick me up when I’m down. We’ll try to do the same for him,” Freeman said.

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