NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Concerns seemed to vanish and Los Angeles Dodgers players wore smiles at Yankee Stadium as they prepared for : Shohei Ohtani was set to play Monday night despite a partially dislocated left shoulder.
sliding into second base when he was caught stealing to end the seventh inning of over the New York Yankees in Game 2 at Los Angeles.
Fans and teammates wondered whether Sho could go this week.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made Ohtani's presence atop the batting order sound close to a sure thing.
鈥淚 just don鈥檛 see him not playing Game 3,鈥� Roberts said before Sunday night's workout. 鈥淚f he feels good enough to go, then I see no reason why he wouldn鈥檛 be in there.鈥�
Ohtani did not travel with the team to New York in order to undergo imaging. He was on a separate flight.
鈥淎s far as test results, we鈥檝e got doctors scrambling everywhere. I don鈥檛 have them,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淭his is more me going by the training staff, Shohei feeling good this morning, range of motion, strength.鈥�
Ohtani was due to arrive at the ballpark in time for the workout, which started at 6 p.m. EDT. Roberts said Ohtani had taken dry swings since the injury and was going to hit off a tee and take batting practice in an indoor cage.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to be telling,鈥� the manager said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 got to still go through the workout and swing the bat, but, again, today feels better than yesterday, and our assumption is tomorrow鈥檚 going to feel better than today.鈥�
Roberts said the injury causes pain but 鈥渋t's just everyone鈥檚 tolerance.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see him being compromised,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the left shoulder, which is the back shoulder. So I don鈥檛 see how that affects his hitting, if he鈥檚 able to go.鈥�
Seeking 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.
鈥淚f he is able to play, willing to play, he鈥檚 going to play,鈥� Roberts said of Ohtani. 鈥淪chmidt will know that Shohei鈥檚 in the box, so that means everything.鈥�
Ohtani clutched his left forearm after being tagged by shortstop Anthony Volpe for the final out in the seventh on a feetfirst slide. He laid near the bag for a couple of minutes before being tended to by athletic trainers and leaving 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 batting .260 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in his first postseason in the majors.
A with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani joined the Dodgers last December for a record .
The 30-year-old Ohtani hit .310 with 54 homers, 130 RBIs and 59 stolen bases, becoming the first player with at least in a season. The two-way star did not pitch this season while recovering from , and has been limited to designated hitter.
鈥淎ny time you have probably the best baseball player in the world, I think it鈥檚 going to help and frees up some of the other guys to kind of play with a little less pressure or a little more freedom,鈥� Buehler said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been awesome for the clubhouse and awesome for our team, so it鈥檚 been a cool year watching him with the 50-50, just kind of the day to day and the kind of human he is, as well."
Ohtani had been one of the few players on the Dodgers roster who got through the season without a major injury. Nearly every member of the starting rotation spent time on the injured list and the team led the majors in injured list placements with 36 and days on the injured list with 2,342.
Among the position players, Mookie Betts was out for nearly two months due to a broken left hand, and Max Muncy was out nearly half the season due to a right oblique strain. Freddie Freeman is playing in the postseason with a sprained right ankle.
___
AP MLB:
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press