With Shohei Ohtani mired in a slump — no home runs in 12 games since September began — he was left out of the starting lineup on the 3rd against the Cardinals for the first time in about a month. On top of the previously reported inflammation in his left knee, it has now emerged that he’s also dealing with neck discomfort, leaving his prospects for a late-season return to two-way duty up in the air. On 5ch, some worried about him pushing through and playing hurt, while others argued he should adjust his pitching schedule to rest up for the postseason — and plenty simply wondered how you even hurt your neck playing baseball.
“Something’s Off” With 32-Year-Old Ohtani… After Left Knee Inflammation, Now Neck Discomfort Too — This Season’s Two-Way Return in Doubt
As September brings the MLB regular season into its final stretch, something is wrong with Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani (32).
Still mired in a slump with no home runs in 12 straight games, he was pulled from the starting lineup on the 3rd against the Cardinals — his first time out of the lineup in about a month.
Fine to keep doing the two-way thing, but he should pitch on 8 days' rest or something.
And honestly, there are other pitchers on the roster — he didn't need to push himself like this.
He's the only guy who can do 50-50.
Maybe he's panicking because Yamamoto's about to steal his Cy Young?
5AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:11
Best part of all this: no more "Ohtani harassment" (the endless flood of Ohtani-focused news coverage drowning out everything else).
7AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:11
Wait, you can get hurt playing baseball?
I get running into a fence or getting hit by a ball, but what else is there to injure yourself on?
19AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:15
Re: #7
Because it involves brutal movements like sprinting and then suddenly stopping.
Ever heard of another sport with such a superhuman feat as running and then stopping?
38AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:21
Re: #19
Man, how little do you know about other sports lol
10AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:13
He kept saying his knee hurt while still stealing bases and sliding.
Now it's the neck-hurts-neck-hurts scam?
14AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:14
Watch him say all this and then go on a home run tear once the postseason starts.
15AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:14
Guess the backlash from turning his whole body into a cyborg has finally caught up with him.
17AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:15
Guess the two-way workload really does take a toll after all.
20AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:15
Murakami barely hits compared to Ohtani, but he's more fun to watch — drawing walks and still finding ways to factor into runs 😉
22AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:16
Antis wanted to say the lineup flows better without Ohtani, but that run only scored because of the other team's error — kind of sad for them.
25AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:17
Send him down to the minors already!!
I could hit better than that right now.
27AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:17
Favoring the knee is messing up everything else.
I want him to rest up and get ready for the postseason.
33AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:20
Re: #27
Yeah, you end up favoring it without even realizing.
28AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:17
It got Kiyohara too, and now even Ohtani. Bulk up like that and the backlash comes for everyone equally. Ichiro had it right all along.
36AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:21
Re: #28
Yeah, lions don't hit the weight room.
42AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:22
Instead of just saying "of course pros are always hurt somewhere," maybe he should spend a full year on complete maintenance — his career would last longer and his performance would improve too.
43AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:22
Hurt your knee, start walking weird, and next thing you know you've thrown out your neck.
46AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:23
Funny that Vantelin (a pain-relief cream brand) is one of his sponsors.
47AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:23
Come on, if his neck's messed up too, just shut him down for the rest of the season and get a full workup. He's got plenty of years left in his career.
48AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:23
My shoulders've been awful stiff too, y'know.
Me and Ohtani — same boat.
50AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:24
He's always known it'd be "live fast, burn out" — this is nothing new at this point.
51AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:24
The knee's bad, but the neck is way worse.
There's a good chance it's nerve-related.
53AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:25
For the sake of his future, wouldn't it be better if he properly rested up?
54AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:25
The neck? How do you even hurt that playing baseball lol
55AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:26
Itoi's pattern was left ankle leading to right knee.
Ohtani's is right ankle leading to left knee.
56AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:26
His body's out of balance. Neck issues can really drag on if they go bad, so it'd be smart to hit the injured list and take even just two weeks to heal up properly. Counting backward from the World Series, there's still a long road ahead.
68AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:29
If he's hurting somewhere new even just as a DH, he might not even be able to play baseball at all lol
73AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:31
Re: #68
Is he becoming a commentator?
75AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:32
Does MLB even offer acupuncture? Seems like it'd be good for maintenance.
87AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:36
Re: #75
Wasn't there that time Sawamura, back in his Giants days, got botched acupuncture treatment and it turned into a real mess?
78AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:34
So he really was on steroids, huh (joking accusation).
83AnonymousSep 4, 2026 13:35
Re: #78
These days training machines and theory are advanced enough that you don't need anything like that.
Background and Talking Points
Ohtani has remained in the rotation as a two-way player again this season, and the heavy toll of also handling baserunning and fielding on top of that has repeatedly come up for discussion. As for this new neck discomfort, some in the thread speculate that compensating for the knee threw off his posture and contributed to it — but it’s worth noting the team and Ohtani himself haven’t given any specific explanation, so this remains pure speculation from 5ch users. The thread split between critics arguing ‘he should report pain earlier’ and defenders countering that ‘some pain is just part of being a pro,’ with disagreement over whether he should prioritize rest now with the postseason in mind. Note also that a few posts speculated this is tied to next year’s WBC — that angle isn’t mentioned in the original article and remains unconfirmed conjecture.
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