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The face of baseball will not be at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Shohei Ohtani was ruled out of his start Friday when the Los Angeles Dodgers said he will also miss the Midsummer Classic with what the team called irritation in his left knee.
Ohtani, for obvious reasons, has become an All-Star Game fixture. He has earned the honor in each of the last five seasons and made his first start in 2021.
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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 3, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The two-way phenom is on pace to win his fifth MVP award in his last six seasons, as he’s batting .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.
The Dodgers said Ohtani will be the team’s designated hitter until the break, but “will have some interventions on his knee to put him in the best position for the second half of the season.”
Ohtani had to deal with knee problems earlier in the season.
It’s certainly a huge coup for the game as the other face of the sport, Aaron Judge, will miss the game due to a rib fracture that has kept him out since late May.
Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers prepares in the cover circle against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 1, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) (Norm Hall/Getty Images)
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Ohtani hit a combined 99 home runs in 2024 and 2025, leading the National League with a 1.025 OPS over that span. Ohtani did not pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery, but returned to the mound last year and posted a 2.87 ERA and 11.9 K/9, a figure he also achieved in 2022 that led the American League.
The “Japanese Babe Ruth” is the only player in MLB history to have more than 300 plate appearances and more than 40 innings in six different seasons (Ruth only did it twice and never stole 50 bases), and he has excelled in both.
Shohei Ohtani pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on May 13, 2026. (Gary A. Vásquez/Imagn Images)
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Ohtani isn’t 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 home runs and 56 RBIs this season.
