NEW YORK -- Despite the Dodgers going up 2-0 in the World Series, the discussion that dominated the off day Sunday was Shohei Ohtani and his shoulder subluxation. The Dodgers won Game 3, taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the series, but his shoulder sure seems compromised.
In pre-game introductions, Ohtani wore a brace that he later said trainers advised would keep his "shoulder warm." In his first plate appearance, he drew a walk without having to swing. His leads at first base were noticeably shorter than in past games, as manager Dave Roberts has said Ohtani will not be stealing for the rest of this series. His secondary leads weren't very big, either.
Next time at the plate, Ohtani did swing. It didn't look comfortable. He ended up grounding out and perhaps the most telling thing in that plate appearance was how he was holding his left arm against his body, tucked into the collar of his jersey, without moving it as he ran to first.
"The reason why I was holding on to myself when I was running is to make sure that I wouldn't use that same shoulder arm if I were to slide," he said through an interpreter after the game.
Next time up, Ohtani fouled a few pitches off before striking out. Again, the swing didn't look very good.
His fourth plate appearance included a pop foul before fouling out. On his last swing, he finished awkwardly, though it should be noted as he jogged to first that he used a normal running motion with his left arm.
He came to the plate for a fifth time in the ninth. He was hit by a pitch before he needed to swing. He would be forced out at second on a grounder to shortstop, pulling up and running out of the baseline instead of going hard and sliding to contest the play. To be fair, there was no chance he was gonna be even close to safe, but it's another data point.
"If it was more of the right shoulder, then I think it would have impacted my swing," Ohtani said through an interpreter. "Thankfully, it was my left, so I don't think it really did."
Interestingly, his bat speed on swings in this game were actually above his regular-season average. Roberts did say Ohtani passed every strength test they used before clearing him, so it isn't a strength issue. That said, he just doesn't look even close to 100%.
It sure doesn't seem likely right now, but if the Yankees can find some offense and claw their way back into this series, the Ohtani injury could loom large. That's an awfully productive player hampered by injury.
