The Los Angeles Dodgers are once again baseball’s best team. After winning both the 2024 and 2025 World Series, they are 61-36 after more than half of the 2026 season. They are in first place in the National League West by a long shot.
Coming out of the All-Star Break, the Dodgers will face off in a 2024 World Series rematch against the New York Yankees. The series is Friday through Sunday at Yankee Stadium and is on national television for the final two games.
In an important series at New York, superstar two-way player Shohei Ohtani will not take the mound for Los Angeles. Per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, the pitching lineup for the series will be in order as follows: Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Ohtani’s continued absence from the pitching schedule is notable as he has not pitched in a game since July 3 against the San Diego Padres. He has been dealing with knee and bicep problems, although missing his last start before the break was seen as precautionary.
This season, Ohtani has started 14 games on the rubber. In 85 ⅔ innings pitched, he is 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA. He has struck out 95 and walked 26. His 51.2% groundball rate is a career-high and well above his usual.
With the bat, the six-time All-Star has been even better. Across 92 games, he is slashing .293/.403/.549 (.952 OPS) with 22 home runs and 58 RBIs.
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As long as Ohtani can stay healthy, this could be his most productive season yet in the big leagues by WAR. He has not had a season to this point where he hit and pitched at an elite level for the whole year.
The 32-year-old’s next chance to take the mound again will be in another road series versus the rival Philadelphia Phillies from Monday through Wednesday. Seeing as there has been no further report about Ohtani’s health status during the break, his next start could surely come in Philadelphia.
