Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani won't require offseason surgery, and the organization expects him to continue performing as a two-way player in 2027.
"I'm not only expecting him to pitch, we're excited about him pitching," Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Wednesday, according to Beth Harris of the Associated Press.
Ohtani dealt with nagging knee and biceps injuries that forced him to stop pitching after the All-Star break. The setbacks also contributed to one of the worst slumps of his career down the stretch and into the postseason.
The four-time MVP said last week he wasn't sure whether he'd need offseason surgery and wouldn't decide how to proceed until he discussed it with the Dodgers.
"Hard to tell at this point," he said on Oct. 16. "It's something that's going to be analyzed, discussed over the offseason, and see if that's a viable thing to do."
On Wednesday, Friedman compared Ohtani's knee and biceps injuries to a game of "whack-a-mole" but added he expects the 32-year-old to be healthy by the start of spring training, according to the California Post's Jack Harris.
Ohtani finished the 2026 campaign with 30 home runs, 81 RBIs, and an .889 OPS as a hitter while posting an 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA and 10.0 K/9 as a pitcher.
