Shohei Ohtani downplays cramps that ended start in 4th

CINCINNATI -- Shohei Ohtani left his pitching start due to right hip cramps on Wednesday, but the Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way star is expected to be ready for his next turn in the rotation.

Ohtani came off the mound with medical training staff during the fourth inning of the Dodgers' game against the Cincinnati Reds. He remained in the contest as a designated hitter.

"I felt it in the first inning and just tried to work around it and I was able to do it up until the third, and it didn't quite work out in the fourth," Ohtani said through an interpreter.

The right-hander departed after walking Tyler Stephenson and throwing six straight balls in the bottom of the fourth. Ohtani, who had a second Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in September 2023, was making his seventh start of the season and had reached the fourth inning for the first time this season.

Ohtani threw three balls, including consecutive wild pitches to Spencer Steer, before staff came out to see him and quickly removed him from the mound.

"A good thing about today's outing is my pitch count was where I want it to be," Ohtani said. "So I think this is a step forward in a sense."

While Ohtani didn't say whether he would miss additional time on the mound, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani should be set to pitch again as scheduled on Aug. 6 against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

The Dodgers did not take him out of the lineup entirely. The move did not pay dividends as finished 0-for-5 with a strikeout. Los Angeles fell 5-2 to the Reds.

Ohtani was facing Cincinnati for the first time since Aug. 23, 2023, when he pitched just 1 1/3 innings in the first game of a doubleheader while with the Los Angeles Angels. A month later, he had surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm.

--Field Level Media