A heartbreaking moment occurred for Dodgers fans tonight in the bottom of the seventh inning Shohei Ohtani tried to steal second base. Ohtani was tagged out by the Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres but appeared to suffer an injury during the game and was escorted off the field by a team trainer. After the match, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that Ohtani had suffered a “minor” shoulder subluxation, or partial dislocation. The star will undergo additional tests tomorrow, and while Roberts emphasized that he didn’t want to speculate on the severity of the injury until those tests were completed, he noted that they are “encouraged” by the initial tests and that he “expects” Ohtani to be back in the lineup for Game 3 on Monday.

It’s a potentially devastating blow for the Dodgers as they look to capture their first full World Series championship since 1988. While Ohtani hasn’t been able to pitch this year after undergoing elbow surgery last September, it’s impossible to call his first season with the club. anything but an absolute success. The 30-year-old superstar slashed an eye-popping .310/.390/.646 (181 wRC+) in 159 games for the Dodgers this year, becoming the first player in MLB history to steal at least 50 bases (59) and hit at least 50 home runs (54) in one season. Ohtani’s dynamic play has also been a key factor in the club’s postseason run thus far, as he has posted an impressive .277/.414/.489 with three home runs and ten RBI during this year’s playoffs tonight’s match.

Whether the Dodgers will have that explosive offensive talent in the lineup for the rest of the series remains to be seen. While the severity of Ohtani’s injury is currently unclear, an injury of any significance will force him and the Dodgers to balance the star’s health with their goal of finishing a World Series championship to close, while they are only two wins away from victory. Other players on the Dodgers roster, including co-star Freddie Vrijman and veteran shortstop Miguel Rojashave played through injuries this postseason in hopes of bringing a World Series to Los Angeles. If the Dodgers take a similar approach with Ohtani and his shoulder issue is fairly mild, imagine him being back in the club’s lineup when the series moves to New York for Game 3 on Monday night.

That’s far from a guarantee, though, and it’s just as easy to imagine the problem being serious enough to put Ohtani at risk of missing the rest of the series. If the injury proves to be serious enough for the Dodgers to remove Ohtani from their playoff roster, outfielders Kevin Kiermaier And James Uitman seems the most likely option for the club to consider activating in place of their superstar on the play-off roster. Meanwhile, Ohtani opening up the DH spot in the lineup would allow the club to provide additional rest for Freeman, who has played the postseason with a sprained ankle and could benefit from the additional time off. In such a scenario Max Muncy would likely slide from third base to first base to cover Freeman first, opening up the hot corner Enrique Hernández and second base for Gavin Lux.

Of course, with just five months to go until Opening Day 2025, a particularly serious injury could not only make Ohtani unavailable for the remainder of the World Series, but also potentially impact his Spring Training and his readiness for the start of next year. Red Sox shortstop Trevor story underwent likely season-ending shoulder surgery in April after an initial diagnosis similar to Ohtani’s after Story landed awkwardly on his shoulder during a play in the field. Surgery proved necessary due to structural damage to his shoulder and initially required a recovery time of six months, although Story managed to return within five months ahead of schedule.

The Dodgers are quite familiar with the dangers of dislocated shoulders, such as during the 2020 NLCS Cody Bellinger suffered a dislocated right shoulder that he played through during their final World Series run, but ultimately required surgery. That procedure came with a recovery timeline of just ten weeks, but Bellinger infamously struggled during his next two seasons with the Dodgers, leading to questions about whether or not he returned to action before he was fully healthy. As serious as Ohtani’s injury turns out to be, a silver lining for the Dodgers is that Ohtani’s left shoulder is compromised, meaning his throwing arm will likely be minimally affected by the issue as he looks for a return to the mound in 2025. .