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Shohei Ohtani partially dislocates his left shoulder during Game 2 of the World Series
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Shohei Ohtani partially dislocates his left shoulder during Game 2 of the World Series

Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani partially dislocated his left shoulder during the seventh inning of Game 2 of Saturday’s World Series against the New York Yankees when he attempted to steal second base.

Ohtani’s status for Monday’s Game 3 in New York is unclear. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani “had a little subluxation of his left shoulder” and would be tested either Saturday night or Sunday.

Ohtani clutched his left forearm after being tagged out by shortstop Anthony Volpe for the final out of the inning on a feet-first slide. He lay by the bag for several minutes before being attended to by trainers and left the field.

“We’ll know more in the next couple of days,” Roberts said. “The power was great. Good range of motion. So we are encouraged. But obviously I can’t speculate because we haven’t received the scans yet. So once we get the scans we will know more. Again, with the power, good range of motion, that’s definitely a positive.”

The Dodgers held on for a 4-2 win and lead the series 2-0.

The Japanese slugger – and presumptive National League MVP – was 0 for 3 with a walk in the game. He is 1-for-8 through the first two games of the Fall Classic and is hitting .260 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in his first postseason in the majors.

“It was tough. You never like to see the best player in the game get hurt like that,” Yankees superstar Aaron Judge said. “Trying to steal a base like that out there and something like that happens. But hopefully it’s all good news. We’ll see what happens.”

Ohtani was one of the few players on the Dodgers roster to go the season without a major injury. The pitching staff has been plagued by injuries, with nearly every member of the starting rotation spending time on the injured list.

Among the position players, Mookie Betts was out for nearly two months with a broken left hand, and Max Muncy was out for nearly half the season with a right oblique strain. Freddie Freeman is playing in the postseason with a badly sprained right ankle.

Betts is optimistic about the Dodgers’ perseverance if Ohtani is sidelined, especially after the team overcame injuries while earning the most wins in the majors during the regular season and reaching the World Series for fourth time in eight seasons.

“We have a great group of guys here and I think we can definitely take care of business. I believe in all of us,” Betts said.

Most of Ohtani’s injuries since coming to the majors in 2018 have been pitching-related, including major right elbow surgery in 2018 and last year. The two-time phenom didn’t pitch this year, but he became the first player in major league history with at least 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season.

In September 2019, he underwent surgery on his left kneecap due to a rare condition. The procedure was on his bipartite kneecap, or a two-part kneecap that did not fuse at birth.

Ohtani missed the 2017 World Baseball Classic after undergoing ankle surgery from an injury sustained during the 2016 Japan Series.

“When you have a group like that, they picked me up when I was down. We’ll try to do the same for him,” Freeman said.