Dodgers say Shohei Ohtani will avoid surgery and is expected to pitch in 2027

Shohei Ohtani will not require offseason surgery and is expected to resume pitching next season, the Los Angeles Dodgers confirmed on Wednesday.

At the team’s end-of-season news conference, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said surgery was “not on the table” for Ohtani and that he “fully expects” the four-time MVP to return to the mound in 2027, Reuters reported.

Ohtani had told reporters after the Dodgers were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series that he was not sure whether he would need surgery to address his left knee and right bicep injuries, which had bogged him down at the plate and taken him off the mound entirely, USA Today reported. Doctors prescribed rest, and Friedman said Ohtani should fully recover and be ready by spring training.

“Not only am I expecting him to pitch, I’m excited about him pitching,” Friedman said. “This is unprecedented, what he’s doing. We don’t have any experience to draw from.”

Ohtani, 32, was limited to 14 starts in 2026, going 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA, 95 strikeouts and 26 walks in 85⅔ innings, last pitching on July 3 before serving exclusively as designated hitter. At the plate he batted .275 with 30 home runs and 81 RBIs in 135 games and made his sixth consecutive All-Star appearance. He has won MVP awards twice with the Angels and twice with the Dodgers, and hit three postseason home runs in 2024 and eight in 2025 as the Dodgers won back-to-back World Series titles.