Shohei Ohtani was certain shortly after he partially dislocated his left shoulder in Game 2 of the World Series that he would return for Game 3.
How certain?
The Dodgers star sent out a text thread to teammates Saturday night as they were bussing to the airport for a flight to New York.
“He said he was going to be fine and that’s it,” Max Muncy said Monday before Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. “He said he was going to play, so we all put it to the side at the moment.”
True to his word, Ohtani was back in the leadoff spot Monday as the DH as the Dodgers looked to build on their 2-0 series lead against the Yankees.
Ohtani sustained the injury on an attempted steal of second base on Saturday. He was diagnosed with a subluxation (partial dislocation) of the left shoulder, but additional testing showed no further damage, according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
It left Ohtani in position to play, dependent on pain tolerance.
And any doubt that might have lingered on that front was largely eliminated Sunday, when Ohtani hit in the batting cage.
“He looked really good, strong and the ball was really coming off his bat,” Roberts said. “I think there was more uncertainty in all of our minds, but in his mind from Day 1, from Saturday evening he was going to play.”
The presumptive National League MVP this season became the first 50/50 player (homers and stolen bases) in major league history.
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Roberts has doubts that Ohtani will attempt to steal bases for the rest of this series, but the slugger remains a threat standing at the plate with a bat.
“When I saw him in the cage hitting balls 102 mph off a tee, that was joy,” Roberts said. “Now it’s more of he’s in there and I am just thinking about the game. I’m not thinking about where he’s at physically. He’s in the lineup, so that’s all I am thinking about.”
Even if Ohtani is less than 100 percent, just his presence in the batter’s box is enough to put a scare into the opponent.
“Regardless of what limitations a pitcher might think [Ohtani] might or might not have, not many guys are willing to take that chance,” Roberts said. “I’m just expecting him to control the strike zone, let the at-bats come to him and swing and fire when the ball is in the hitting zone. We’re just very grateful that he’s in the lineup.”
Ohtani entered the day with a .260/.403/.460 slash line this postseason with three homers and 10 RBIs. Two of those homers were hit against the Mets in the NLCS.
“If you keep the best player in the game in the lineup, that’s usually good for your team,” Muncy said. “He’s had some big moments for us and we’re expecting a couple more big moments out of him.”
Roberts’ only regret is he wasn’t part of the text chain in which Ohtani told his teammates he was fine and would continue playing.”
“It would have been helpful if I saw that thread,” Roberts said. “I would have slept better Saturday night. I wasn’t privy to that until today, so that would have been helpful.”