Shohei Ohtani Returns to Dodgers Lineup With Hit vs. Padres

Shohei Ohtani returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup Wednesday night after two weeks on the injured list with right biceps discomfort, going 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts as the designated hitter against the San Diego Padres, NBC Sports and the Los Angeles Times reported.

Batting second behind Mookie Betts for the first time this season, Ohtani greeted a partial standing ovation at Dodger Stadium by lining a first-inning single off Padres left-hander Robbie Ray into right field. Manager Dave Roberts said the at-bat quality looked strong and that Ohtani “wasn’t sped up at all,” calling the night a promising physical checkpoint as October approaches.

The Dodgers still fell 5-1 and missed a chance to lock up a first-round bye, but the club framed Ohtani’s activation as the more consequential storyline. He last played Sept. 7 against Cincinnati and entered the injured list Sept. 8 after a stretch in which his swing looked compromised—wincing, shaking out his arm, and struggling to catch up to fastballs. Before the IL stint he was hitting .277 with 30 home runs, 80 RBIs, and 80 walks in 134 games.

Roberts said he expects to keep Ohtani near the top of the order, flipping Betts and Ohtani depending on the opposing starter so left-handed pitching has to navigate a “Mookie tax” before reaching the two-way star. Against right-handers, Roberts prefers the reverse. Ohtani did not speak to reporters after the game and is scheduled to be back in the lineup for the series finale as the Dodgers squeeze in at-bats before the postseason.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the priority with five games left is rhythm and timing, not a rigid rest schedule. “Just getting as many at-bats as he can … before we head into October is going to be really helpful,” Friedman told the Times. Ohtani had hit just .130 over his final three weeks before the IL move, a slide the club now links to subconscious protective adjustments that degraded his barrel control over time.

Ohtani’s return also reshuffled the roster. Rookie Josue De Paula, who reached base safely in 10 of his first 11 big-league games while filling the DH role, was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City so he can join the Pacific Coast League playoffs. Roberts and Friedman both said De Paula remains in the conversation for a National League Division Series bench role as a pinch hitter after injecting “real life and energy” into the clubhouse.

Other roster notes around the activation included right-hander Tarik Skubal returning from the bereavement list with a projected start in San Francisco and reliever Kyle Hurt being optioned to Triple-A. The larger October picture for Los Angeles still hinges on whether Ohtani’s improved feel at the plate holds once game intensity and workload return—exactly the test Roberts said “tonight showed that he’s in a good spot physically.”

For a Dodgers team already positioned for October baseball, Wednesday’s box score mattered less than the optics of a healthy Ohtani lining a single, taking a walk, and nearly driving a seventh-inning fly to the center-field fence. With Betts riding a torrid September (.366 with six homers in 18 games) and the lineup’s top half locked in, Los Angeles now turns the final regular-season days into a controlled ramp for its franchise cornerstone.