NEW YORK – Worries seemed to melt away, and Los Angeles Dodgers players were all smiles at Yankee Stadium as they prepared for Game 3 of the World Series: Shohei Ohtani was scheduled to play Monday night despite a partially dislocated left shoulder.

Ohtani was hurt sliding into second base when he was caught stealing to end the seventh inning a Saturday night’s 4-2 win over the New York Yankees in Game 2 in Los Angeles.

Fans and teammates wondered if Sho could go this week.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made Ohtani’s presence at the top of the batting order sound almost a sure thing.

“I don’t see him not playing Game 3,” Roberts said before Sunday night’s practice. “If he feels well enough to go, then I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be there.”

Ohtani did not travel with the team to New York to undergo imaging. He was on a separate flight.

“In terms of test results, we have doctors messing up all over the place. I don’t have them,” Roberts said. “This is more me in addition to the training staff, Shohei is feeling good this morning, range of motion, strength.”

Ohtani was scheduled to arrive at the ballpark in time for practice, which began at 6:00 PM EDT. Roberts said Ohtani had been taking dry swings since the injury and was going to hit a tee and take batting practice in an indoor cage.

“That will be obvious,” the manager said. “He’s got to get through practice and swing the bat, but again, today feels better than yesterday, and our guess is that tomorrow will feel better than today.”

Roberts said the injury causes pain, but “it’s just everyone’s tolerance.”

“I don’t see it compromised,” he added. “It’s the left shoulder, which is the back shoulder. So I don’t see how that affects his hitting, if he’s able to go.”

In pursuit of their eighth title and second in five years, the Dodgers lead 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. Walker Buehler starts Game 3 for Los Angeles against Clarke Schmidt.

“If he’s able to play, willing to play, he’s going to play,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “Schmidt will know that Shohei is in the box, so that means everything.”

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

The likely NL MVP was 0 for 3 with a walk in Game 2. He is 1 for 8 in the first two games of the Fall Classic and is hitting .260 with three home runs and 10 RBI in his first postseason in the majors.

A two-time AL MVP with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani joined the Dodgers last December for a record $700 million, 10-year contract.

Ohtani, 30, hit .310 with 54 homers, 130 RBIs and 59 stolen bases, becoming the first player with at least 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season. The two-way star has not pitched this season while rehabbing elbow surgery on September 19, 2023and was limited to designated hitter.

“Any time you have probably the best baseball player in the world, I think it’s going to help and free up some of the other guys to play with a little less pressure or a little more freedom,” Buehler said. “He’s been great for the clubhouse and great for our team, so it’s been a great year watching him 50-50, just kind of day-to-day and the kind of guy, too.”

Ohtani was one of the few players on the Dodgers roster to go the season without a major injury. Nearly every member of the starting rotation spent time on the disabled list, and the team led 36 days on the disabled list with 2,342 days.

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 sprained right ankle.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb