Dave Roberts Says Ohtani ‘in a Great Spot,’ Will Play in Game 3

LOS ANGELES — Just as Major League Baseball was basking in the strong early ratings returns from its star-studded 2024 World Series, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani hurt his left shoulder late in Game 2 Saturday night, giving a serious scare to everyone involved in marketing the sport.

Ohtani sustained the injury attempting to steal second base in the seventh inning of Game 2. 

ESPN spoke with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on Sunday afternoon, and Roberts said Ohtani was “in a great spot” and would play in Game 3 on Monday night.

Shortly after the game, the Dodgers were “encouraged” that he would not miss any time. But Ohtani’s condition was initially described as a subluxation, medically defined as a partial dislocation.

“We’ll know more in the next couple of days,” said Roberts after the 4–2 victory for Los Angeles. “The strength was great, the range of motion good, so we’re encouraged.”

Game 3 of the World Series is set for Monday at Yankee Stadium. The Dodgers now lead two games to none, and Ohtani’s continued presence means a sizable momentum shift on the field isn’t paired with a potentially significant impairment to mainstream interest in the World Series—especially interest from Japan.

After Ohtani during the regular season became MLB’s first player with 50 home runs and 50 steals in a season, he entered the World Series as the biggest star in an event with plenty of others. That presence helped fuel MLB and Fox Sports to a strong Game 1 average viewership of 15.2 million viewers, the best Fall Classic opening audience since 2017. 

Before this, Ohtani’s injury history has been primarily tied to his pitching. After major elbow surgery 13 months ago, he did not pitch all this season, but he did play the full season as a designated hitter. 

“He’s got to still go through the workout and swing the bat, but again, today feels better than yesterday, and our assumption is tomorrow’s going to feel better than today,” Roberts said in a Sunday press conference. “That’s what I’m banking on.”