Shohei Ohtani suffered a scary-looking shoulder injury late in Game 2 of the World Series. People feared the worst, but the Los Angeles Dodgers were confident he would be available for Game 3 in New York against the Yankees. Sure enough, he was in the lineup on Monday night.
Ohtani wore a jacket before the game that kind of hid a sling, which is one of the only pieces of protective equipment Major League Baseball players don't wear in the batter's box. Ohtani took off the sling when the game started and walked on four straight pitches from New York starter Clarke Schmidt.
Ohtani appears to be wearing a sling as he is introduced at Yankee Stadium before Game 3. pic.twitter.com/6ebDgGQ2qe
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 28, 2024
Once he was on base he could be seen holding onto his jersey with his left hand to remind himself not to move his arm too much. Luckily, Freddie Freeman homered two batters later so Ohtani got to jog around the bases and not worry about doing too much.
Shohei Ohtani is trying to keep his shoulder from making any unnecessary movements on the bases
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 29, 2024
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/HssZ59TX54
It will be interesting to see how the shoulder affects Ohtani if the Yankees give him a pitch to swing at or a teammate puts one in play while he's on the base paths, either tonight or later in the series.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shohei Ohtani Used Both a Real and Imaginary Sling in Game 3 of the World Series.
