{"id":16296,"date":"2026-07-11T01:08:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T01:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=16296"},"modified":"2026-07-11T01:08:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T01:08:01","slug":"shohei-ohtani-scratched-from-mlb-all-star-game-with-knee-irritation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=16296","title":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani scratched from MLB All-Star Game with knee irritation"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The face of baseball will not be at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.<\/p>\n

Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his start on Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers said he will also miss the Midsummer Classic with what the team called left knee irritation.<\/p>\n

Ohtani, for obvious reasons, has become an All-Star Game fixture. He has earned the honor in each of the past five seasons and made his first start in 2021.<\/p>\n

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Starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers warms up before the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 03, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen\/Getty Images)<\/span> (Christian Petersen\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The two-way phenom is on his way to winning his fifth MVP award in his last six seasons as he is hitting .290 with a .939 OPS and pitching to a minuscule 1.79 ERA, the second-lowest in the sport among pitchers with 80-plus innings. His OPS is also the seventh-best mark in the league.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers said Ohtani will be the team’s designated hitter up until the break, but he will “have some interventions on his knee to put him in the best position for the second half of the season.”<\/p>\n

Ohtani dealt with knee issues earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

It is certainly a big hit for the game as the other face of the sport, Aaron Judge, will miss the game due to a fractured rib that has kept him out since late May.<\/p>\n

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Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers gets ready in the on deck circle against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 01, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall\/Getty Images)<\/span> (Norm Hall\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ohtani hit 99 home runs combined in 2024 and 2025, leading the National League with a 1.025 OPS in that span. Ohtani did not pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery but returned to the bump last year and owned a 2.87 ERA and 11.9 K\/9, a figure he also put up in 2022 that led the American League.<\/p>\n

The “Japanese Babe Ruth” is the only player in MLB history to have 300-plus plate appearances and 40-plus innings in six separate seasons (Ruth only did it twice and never stole 50 bases), and he has more than excelled at both.<\/p>\n

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Shohei Ohtani pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on May 13, 2026.<\/span> (Gary A. Vasquez\/Imagn Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ohtani is not hitting like he has in the past, but certainly the best pitching performance of his career will make up for it. He “only” has 20 homers and 56 RBI this season.<\/p>\n

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