---
title: "Ohtani scratched with knee irritation, will miss the All-Star Game"
description: "Shohei Ohtani was pulled from his scheduled Friday pitching start and will skip next week's MLB All-Star Game because of irritation in his left knee, the Dodgers said. The team framed it as a precaution, and Ohtani is expected to keep hitting while receiving treatment over the break."
category: "Los Angeles"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/los-angeles
author: "Tyler Grant"
published: 2026-07-10T22:56:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-10T22:56:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/ohtani-scratched-with-knee-irritation-will-miss-the-all-star-game
tags: ["dodgers", "shohei-ohtani", "mlb", "all-star-game", "los-angeles"]
---
# Ohtani scratched with knee irritation, will miss the All-Star Game

Shohei Ohtani was pulled from his scheduled Friday pitching start and will skip next week's MLB All-Star Game because of irritation in his left knee, the Dodgers said. The team framed it as a precaution, and Ohtani is expected to keep hitting while receiving treatment over the break.

The Dodgers are easing off the accelerator with their most valuable player, at least for a week.

## What happened

The team scratched Shohei Ohtani from his scheduled Friday start against the Arizona Diamondbacks and said he will not travel to the All-Star Game, both because of irritation in his left knee, [ABC7 reported](https://abc7.com/post/shohei-ohtani-will-not-pitch-diamondbacks-miss-2026-star-game-because-knee-irritation-dodgers-say/19482166/). The Dodgers said Ohtani would undergo "some interventions on his knee" during the All-Star break to put him "in the best position for the second half of the season."

Crucially, the team is not describing this as a serious injury. Ohtani is expected to remain in the lineup as the designated hitter, [the Los Angeles Times reported](https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2026-07-10/shohei-ohtani-scratched-from-next-start-wont-travel-to-all-star-game), meaning the plan is to rest the pitching side of his game and treat the knee, not to shut him down.

## A managed issue

The knee irritation is not brand new, and the timing, right before the break, gives the Dodgers a natural window to address it without missing regular-season games. Treating it now, rather than letting it linger, fits a season-long pattern of the team handling its two-way star with an eye on October.

## The cost

The trade-off is that fans will not see Ohtani at the All-Star Game, where he had been among the most popular selections. Sitting out the exhibition is the kind of concession a first-place team can make: the Dodgers have been among the best in baseball this season, and preserving Ohtani's health for the stretch run and the playoffs is the clear priority.

## What's next

Ohtani is expected to keep hitting through the weekend before using the break for treatment. For the Dodgers, the calculation is straightforward. A healthy Ohtani, dangerous at the plate and on the mound, is worth far more down the stretch than his presence in a July exhibition, and the team is betting a few days of caution now pays off later.