Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani won't pitch in All-Star Game

Bill Plunkett, The Orange County Register on Jul 3, 2026

Published in Baseball

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LOS ANGELES — It’s not official. But it’s obvious.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged Friday that the decision to move back Shohei Ohtani’s start this week will make him unavailable to pitch in the All-Star Game later this month.

“I think so,” said Roberts, who is the National League manager for this year’s game. “I haven’t formally said it. But if you just kind of do the math, it would be hard to imagine. But I don’t have to make that decision quite yet.”

The full rosters for the All-Star Game will be announced on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on Fox. Ohtani has already earned the starting spot as the NL DH by leading all players in voting during the first phase.

Ohtani started Friday night against the San Diego Padres and is lined up to start again next Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. That would put him on just three days of rest before the All-Star Game in Philadelphia. The Dodgers have asked him to pitch on as little as five days of rest just once this season.

Ohtani has only pitched in the All-Star Game once. He started for the American League in 2021 at Coors Field in Denver.

Roberts will have two strong options when choosing his starting pitcher even with Ohtani out of the mix — Milwaukee Brewers flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski or hometown Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez.

Ohtani had an 0.74 ERA through his first 10 pitching starts this season but has slipped since then. Over three starts before Friday, Ohtani allowed 11 runs (nine earned) in 18 2/3 innings.

Dalton Rushing has been behind the plate for each of those starts, and the two were visibly at odds during Ohtani’s start in Minnesota last week.

“Some of it is Shohei hasn’t had his best stuff recently and that’s the truth,” Roberts said before Friday’s game. “The fastball command hasn’t been what it was earlier in the season. The sweeper hasn’t been the same. He’s started using the split a little bit more recently, which he was using a lot more earlier in the season. So there’s a lot of variables outside of just saying it’s the catcher.”