Ohtani Expected Back in Dodgers Lineup

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is expected to return to the lineup Wednesday against the San Diego Padres, the first day he is eligible to come off the injured list, with manager Dave Roberts saying he looks considerably healthier than he did before the shutdown. Roberts framed the readiness as an eight or nine compared with a five before the IL stint, and told reporters that unless he hears otherwise, Ohtani will be in the lineup.

Ohtani landed on the 15-day IL with right biceps inflammation (backdated to Sep 8) after also dealing with left knee issues that already ended his pitching for 2026. He advanced through a hitting progression that included Trajekt swings and baserunning, then took a normal pregame workout Tuesday. The plan, per Roberts earlier, is for Ohtani to play the remaining regular-season games as a designated hitter so he can re-acclimate to major league pitching before October.

Context for Dodgers fans: Los Angeles has played well without him, and Tuesday's Padres series opener already trimmed the magic number for a first-round bye. Roki Sasaki and Andy Pages came off the IL Tuesday on a separate board. Ohtani's bat still changes the top of the order once it is live again, even if the recent pre-IL stretch was cold with a tiny batting line and a pile of strikeouts.

Roberts still plans to write Ohtani atop the order against right-handers and is thinking through lefty matchups with Mookie Betts in the mix. That is lineup management, not a demotion. Five games remain after activation if Wednesday sticks, and a likely bye would then give Ohtani another short recovery window before the NLDS.

Soft fantasy note only: put Ohtani back in active lineups for Wednesday if your league locked him on the IL, and do not invent a pitching return. The club has already shut that down for the rest of 2026. Treat the final week as a live-at-bat ramp, not a home-run-derby guarantee after the cold September stretch.

Dodger Stadium gets the next chapter of the Padres series Wednesday. If the bat looks sharp through San Francisco after that, October suddenly looks a lot less theoretical.

Return board

Eligible Wednesday. Roberts expects him in the lineup. DH only for the rest of 2026.

Feeling like an 8 or 9 versus a pre-IL 5, per Roberts.

Fan closer

Get the bat live for the Padres. October is the real stress test, not this final week.