Shohei Ohtani officially hits IL for first time of Dodgers career with biceps inflammation

As expected, the Los Angeles Dodgers officially placed Shohei Ohtani on the 15-day injured list with right biceps inflammation on Friday. It is the first time in three seasons with the Dodgers that Ohtani has hit the IL.

The Dodgers selected the contract of elite prospect Josue De Paula to replace Ohtani on both the roster and in his usual DH spot. They also moved pitcher Eric Lauer to the 60-day IL to make 40-man roster room for De Paula.

De Paul is hitting seventh at DH in the Dodgers lineup for his MLB debut against the Miami Marlins.

Ohtani’s IL move is backdated to Sept. 8, the day after his most recent appearance for the Dodgers in which he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk. That means he will not be eligible to return until Sept. 23, at which point the Dodgers will have only five games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The biceps being the stated reason for Ohtani’s IL placement is curious, as so much more has been made about his knee. That was the issue that forced him to stop pitching in early July, with Ohtani receiving a lubricant injection in the joint during the All-Star break.

Ohtani revealed the biceps issue in late July, but the Dodgers downplayed it compared to the knee injury.

It’s a less-than-ideal situation for the Dodgers, who are on track to win the NL West for the the 13th time in 14 years and currently sit 1.5 games back from the Milwaukee Brewers for the best record in MLB. They can only hope Ohtani is ready to return in the minimum amount of time, and that he doesn’t need much runway to be ready for the games that really count.

The team would have prefered to place Ohtani on the 10-day IL like every other hitter, but his official two-way player designation, which allows him to pitch in games and not count against MLB’s maximum of 13 rostered pitchers, forces him to be placed on the 15-day IL like a pitcher.

The ship has also seemingly sailed on Ohtani throwing another pitch this year, as he told reporters on Monday that he will be “focusing on hitting moving forward.”