Shohei Ohtani held out of Dodgers' loss to White Sox because of knee discomfort

CHICAGO - Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup Friday against the Chicago White Sox a day after exiting the game with discomfort in the back of his left knee.

"Seeing him today, he feels fine-ish," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers' 8-2 loss Friday. "But just giving him an extra day is the smart thing to do."

Ohtani underwent imaging on his left knee, according to Roberts, and it didn't show anything beyond "normal wear and tear."

Roberts expressed optimism that Ohtani would return to the lineup this weekend, and he still is penciled in to take the mound Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Dodger Stadium before the team's day off Thursday.

"It's something that I think we can manage," Roberts said. "Not an [injured list] situation."

Roberts initially was hopeful, after Ohtani left the Dodgers' 8-6 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in the seventh inning, that he would not miss additional time. But at this point in the season, the Dodgers are incentivized to play it safe with Ohtani's recovery.

"If it was another time of the season, he'd be in there," Roberts said.

The back of Ohtani's knee, where the swelling is concentrated, still is sore, Roberts said. The origin of that swelling is not entirely clear.

"There is no incident," Roberts said. "We don't know. He doesn't know. I asked him if it was during the pitching, was it when he was hitting, when he was trying to steal a base. And there was no one incident. So I don't know. I think that's maybe a good thing."

Ohtani's injury history includes surgery on his left knee in 2019. He was born with a rare congenital knee condition called bipartite patella, in which the kneecap doesn't fuse together. It's often asymptomatic, but in 2019, Ohtani felt the effects, especially as he started ramping up his post-Tommy John surgery throwing program. He kept playing through it until September.

It's unclear whether there's any connection between that issue and the inflammation. Ohtani was not available before the game Friday.

"I think it's just more the natural evolution of limbs and body parts," Roberts said. "The running, the swinging, the landing when you're pitching. So that's just what happens to your body. So I think that something probably just pissed it off a little bit. But now we can kind of manage the symptoms and feel good about it going forward."

By the eighth inning of the lopsided game Friday, the shirtless "tarps off" section that had formed in the top deck at Rate Field was feeling comfortable enough with their team's lead to call for a bigger challenge for their team.

"We want Sho-hei," they chanted.

Sasaki struggles in loss

Former Dodger Miguel Vargas delivered the go-ahead hit for the White Sox in the fifth inning as part of a game-defining seven-run rally.

The teams had already traded the lead. The White Sox struck first with a solo homer by Andrew Benintendi off Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki in the first inning. In the second, the Dodgers pulled ahead on Santiago Espinal's two-run single off White Sox starter Anthony Kay.

Sasaki's command, however, wavered in the fifth. He walked the first batter he faced and surrendered three straight hits - culminating with a double off the right-field wall from Vargas - to give up the lead.

Sasaki walked two more batters for another run before Roberts pulled him with one out and the bases loaded.

The White Sox kept tacking on against right-handed reliever Blake Treinen, who allowed all three inherited runners to score, plus one more.

Sasaki was charged with a career-high seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. It ended his streak of seven straight starts of five-plus innings.

Edman nearing return

Dodgers utility player Tommy Edman (right ankle surgery recovery) is nearing the end of his minor league rehab assignment. If all goes well in the coming days, Roberts expects him to return to the team next week against the Rays. Edman entered Friday with a .670 OPS in 11 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 2:22 PM.