Shohei Ohtani won't need surgery as the Dodgers say they fully expect him to pitch in 2027

Shohei Ohtani will not need surgery on his left knee, his right arm or any of the other ailments that wore him down in the second half of the season, Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Wednesday.

Doctors prescribed rest and nothing more. The Dodgers expect his 2027 season to be unaffected. When Ohtani starts getting ready for it he will train as a two-way player again.

"I fully expect him to pitch next year," Friedman said at the team's end-of-season news conference at Dodger Stadium. "And I'm not only expecting him to pitch; we're excited about him pitching. So now it's about: How do we do that? How do we manage through a long season and have him at his best going into October? That's a challenge."

A brilliant start, then a slow fade

Ohtani went 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA over his first 14 starts, striking out 95 in 85⅔ innings. Pain in his left knee and right biceps kept him off the mound after July 3. At the plate he was still hitting .294 with 30 home runs as of Aug. 18, but the physical trouble eventually crept into his swing.

He finished the regular season with 11 hits and 29 strikeouts over his last 70 at-bats and went 4-for-22 without an extra-base hit in his first seven postseason games. His first home run since mid-August came in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, but by then the Milwaukee Brewers were finishing off a sweep.

"This is unprecedented, what he's doing," Friedman said. "We don't have any experience to draw from. We have to all just figure it out together."

What comes next

Friedman said there will be no changes to manager Dave Roberts' coaching staff. The front office now turns to a busy winter that includes ace Tarik Skubal's pending free agency, several key relievers and an effort to get younger around the diamond.

The biggest question is how to manage Ohtani's pitching without hurting his bat. Options include starting his pitching season later, building in more off days or some mix of both. "We're just going to have to be very deliberate about it on all sides," Friedman said, "because the value of it is incredible."