Shohei Ohtani's Injury Concern

With a terrible couple of weeks of MLB superstars getting injured, with Juan Soto hit by a ball and Aaron Judge injuring his elbow, it stands within reason to overreact to Shohei's cramped lower back muscles. 

In the 4th inning of last night's game against the Cincinnati Reds, Shohei struggled to throw strikes on six consecutive pitches, prompting Dave Roberts to take him out of the game. But it turns out that Shohei's injury scare was not an injury at all but rather something baseball players experience all the time: cramped muscles. 

With Shohei though, it hits a bit different. First, he is a global icon. Second, he is a two-way player. Third, he's one of the best players on the planet, having won 3 MVPs in his career, and is on pace to win another one. For him to get injured for a prolonged period would absolutely be terrible for the Dodgers, as they are already facing difficulty in keeping players healthy. They are still in first place in their division, but the season still has a long way to go, and the Padres and Giants are just around the corner, ready to claim their spot in the division.

Hye-Seong Kim, the Korean utility man and Shohei's teammate, was diagnosed with left shoulder bursitis, which explains why he had struggled at the plate for a while. Most likely, it had been persisting for at least a week or two. It's something that doesn't get worse overnight, as it is something that is caused by repetitive overhead movements such as reaching, lifting, and throwing. The joint in the shoulder, called the bursae, is filled with fluid, and when it becomes inflamed, the person develops a condition called shoulder bursitis.

As a precaution, Kim has been placed on the 10-day injured list. This limits the Dodgers' flexibility on position players because Kike Hernandez, the other great utility man for the team, is also injured. This could force the team to make some moves before the trade deadline they probably would not have made if the team stayed healthy.

It is a long season indeed.