The Dodgers are already moving on to 2027, and Shohei Ohtani made sure fans heard from him before the offseason really settled in.
After Los Angeles’ season came to a sudden end a week ago, Ohtani posted a simple message on Instagram: “Thank you.”
That was the closing note on a year that started with brilliance and faded hard down the stretch. The Dodgers were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers, who answered last year’s National League Championship Series loss and now have their eyes on a first World Series title in franchise history.
For Ohtani, the season was a tale of two halves. In the first, he looked every bit like the game-changing force the Dodgers signed up for.
On the mound, he made 14 starts and was as sharp as he’s ever been, putting together a 1.79 ERA with 95 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .180 batting average. He went 8-2 across 85.2 innings.
Then came the shutdown after the All-Star break. His final start came on July 3, his 32nd birthday, and the Dodgers closed the book on his pitching for the year.
The bat stayed in his hands, but the swing never fully came back. By mid-August, Ohtani was battling through a left knee irritation and right biceps tightness, and the injuries kept piling up. The knee issue first flared in late June, while the biceps tightness surfaced repeatedly as the year wore on.
His offense slid through October, and despite playing through the pain, he never got back to the version of himself the Dodgers needed. He eventually landed on the injured list in September, and the two weeks off the team hoped would reset him never really changed the story. He never looked quite right again.
Looking ahead, the Dodgers expect Ohtani to return to two-way duty in 2027. And there was one bit of encouraging news from president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman on Wednesday: Ohtani will not need offseason surgery on his left knee or right biceps.
The expectation is that rest will do the job, with Ohtani on track to be at 100% by the time spring training arrives.
In Other News...
Dodgers Suddenly Have An Elly De La Cruz Trade Debate
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During the postseason, Joey Votto pushed the conversation even further by floating a hypothetical deal that would send De La Cruz to the Dodgers for top prospect Josue De Paula. It remains a long shot, but the mere mention of De Paula underscores why the idea has traction as a debate topic, since the young outfielder has built a strong reputation with his offense and upside. For the Dodgers, it is the kind of star-for-prospect discussion that always invites attention, even when the odds say it is more thought experiment than real blueprint. [Read more 🡒]
Mookie Betts' Reaction Says Everything About What Dodgers Are Losing
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Now Rojas is set to retire from playing after the 2026 season, closing the book on a 13-year career that left a strong imprint in Los Angeles. The good news for the Dodgers is that he is not leaving the organization entirely, since he will move into a front office role centered on player development. Even so, the transition marks the end of an era for a team that has leaned on his voice, his example and the kind of day-to-day guidance that can be hard to replace. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Just Got A Telling Skubal Update From Andrew Friedman
Tarik Skubals arrival gave the Dodgers exactly the kind of late-season boost they had hoped for, and his work in October only added to the belief inside the organization that he could be part of the long-term picture. As he heads into free agency, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was complimentary of the way Skubal handled the transition and made it clear the club appreciates what he brought during his time in Los Angeles.
Friedman also said the Dodgers will keep talking with agent Scott Boras, but the next move belongs to Skubal and his family. For a team that just watched him show well in the postseason, the offseason now becomes about whether the Dodgers can turn a strong short-term fit into something much more permanent. [Read more 🡒]