NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 2, 2026

Shohei Ohtani

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Shohei, with these last five days, how did you use them to not only continue to put your body in a good position but to also keep working on your swing, whether mechanically or getting just a good amount of at-bats to prepare yourself?

SHOHEI OHTANI: A very productive time getting live at-bats, live BP and simulated games, and having a good amount of time to recover.

Q. Shohei, I know you've said that you're probably not going to get to 100 percent, but how are you feeling physically compared to when you first went on the IL?

SHOHEI OHTANI: It feels really good overall. I do feel like my swing is in a better place, feels smooth, and just a little tweaks here and there, and I'll be ready for tomorrow.

Q. It's going to be very hot here obviously at Dodger Stadium. Do you change your routine or change anything up for the heat?

SHOHEI OHTANI: Nothing for me personally, but I know the pitchers are going to have a hard time. I'm wishing all the best for Scooby.

Q. I know you take pride in being out there every game. What, if anything, would cause you to go to the team and say I can't play tonight?

SHOHEI OHTANI: Just overall, I do pride myself on playing every day. I do see it as an obligation as a professional to be on the field every single day. Just being on the IL has taught me a lot, and that's something that I'm just take it as I go.

Q. The arm and knee injuries, how much are they lingering? Is it something you will have to address in the off-season?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I haven't been able to get a good grasp of the root cause of all this. I think that process is going to happen during the off-season when I'm going to have a little bit more time to be able to address it. But as of now, it's something I'm just going to have to manage.

Q. You had so much downtime over the last month. What did you learn from those five games at the end of the season, those 30 plate appearances or so?

SHOHEI OHTANI: During the IL I pretty much knew I wasn't going to pitch the rest of the season. So I did focus on just the hitting aspect of the game and coming to understanding and wanting to execute and try new things when I came back.

So those were the things that I really took the IL time to think through what I wanted to try when I was back in action.

Q. Andrew Friedman kind of said that while the communication back and forth has been awesome, that your transparency, like how you're feeling, is less awesome. Obviously you want to play. Is that something that going forward you're going to have to be more transparent about how you're feeling, especially navigating both hitting and pitching?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I think the discussion became more about like what's best for the team. Is it something that I can play through, and if that's best for the team, sure. But I think we both came to an understanding where the decision to be on the IL came from the fact that it's probably best for the team for me to recover and be able to focus on the postseason.

Q. You've had limited games to test your swing out since coming back from the IL. So how will you know whether your swing is in a good spot, and what are you expecting from yourself this series?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I mean, it's relatively for me pretty quickly I can find out whether I have a lot of at-bats or not, I can figure out how I feel, especially in my setup. So that's something I was able to kind of see.

But I do want to get into the postseason, feel the atmosphere, and again kind of recalibrate what I have to.