Surgery is not on the table for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, who played through knee and biceps injuries late in the season and into the postseason, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman announced Wednesday. The Dodgers expect Ohtani to pitch next season and continue as a two-way player.

"That's not on the table," Friedman said when asked about Ohtani having surgery. "... I fully expect him to pitch next year. I not only expect him to pitch, we're excited about him pitching."

Ohtani, 32, did not pitch after July 3 due to the knee injury. He nursed the biceps injury throughout the season and it eventually contributed to the team's decision to shut him down as a pitcher. Ohtani threw bullpen sessions and faced hitters in live batting practice to prepare to return to the mound in late August, but he had to be shut down.

The injuries clearly hampered Ohtani at the plate late in the year. He spent 15 days on the injured list in September, went 5 for 21 with eight strikeouts in five regular-season games after returning, then went 5 for 26 with 10 strikeouts in the postseason. Ohtani hit .167/.298/.240 with one home run in his final 26 games of 2026, postseason included.

Before the injuries, Ohtani made 14 starts and threw 85 ⅔ innings with a 1.79 ERA and terrific under-the-hood numbers. He has a career 2.83 ERA in 114 regular-season starts. Ohtani has pitched like an ace whenever he's been on the mound, so it's easy to understand why he and the Dodgers continue to pursue it.

There are three paths the Dodgers can take with Ohtani as a pitcher in 2027.

1. Let him pitch all year

Maintain the status quo, basically. Let Ohtani break camp as a regular member of the rotation and plan on pitching him every sixth day -- the Dodgers employ a full-time six-man rotation -- from Opening Day through the end of the season, which the Dodgers hope is at the end of the World Series. This is surely what Ohtani wants, and, of course, he has say in this matter.

Here is the Dodgers rotation depth chart going into next season:

1. RHP Shohei Ohtani
2. RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto
3. LHP Blake Snell
4. RHP Tyler Glasnow
5. RHP Roki Sasaki
6. LHP Justin Wrobleski
7. RHP Emmet Sheehan
8. RHP Gavin Stone (coming off shoulder surgery)

Even if the Dodgers are unable to re-sign Tarik Skubal, there is plenty of depth there to continue with the six-man rotation, and even skip Ohtani's starts now and then to give his body a break. Wrobleski and Sheehan are overqualified as No. 5-6 starters and Stone threw the ball quite well during his minor-league rehab appearances. Los Angeles could always sign a depth starter as well.

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2. Start his season late (on the mound)

Because Ohtani qualifies as a two-way player and thus counts against the roster as a position player, the Dodgers are still able to carry the full complement of 13 pitchers. They can slowly build Ohtani up as a pitcher during pregame work while he remains in the lineup as a hitter, then they can insert him into the rotation in, say, June. That could keep him healthiest in the long run.

This is more or less what the Dodgers did with Ohtani as he worked his way back from UCL surgery in 2025. He threw his bullpens and live batting practices in the afternoon, then hit at night. Ohtani made his first start on June 16 and gradually built up from one inning in June to six innings in September. Ohtani then made four starts and threw 20 ⅓ innings in the 2025 playoffs. There is proof of concept here. The Dodgers and Ohtani have done exactly this already.

3. Use him as a reliever

A fine idea that will be difficult to put into practice. Warming up in the bullpen (or even in the batting cage behind the dugout) would be difficult when Ohtani has to hit in the previous inning, or even if his lineup spot is due up fourth or fifth. Ohtani's lineup spot was eight spots away when he came out of the bullpen for Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic Championship Game.

Also, the Dodgers would lose the DH spot once Ohtani comes out of the game as a reliever. MLB's rules allow Ohtani to stay in the game as the DH when he's the starting pitcher, but not as the DH. The Dodgers could get around this by using him as the closer and as their final pitcher of the game. But again, how does he warm up? And if it goes to extra innings, you're down Ohtani's bat.

The Dodgers should be good enough to win the NL West next season without a full season of Ohtani the pitcher, so starting him late seems like the best approach. That said, the difference between 15 starts of Ohtani and 23 starts of Ohtani could be the difference between getting a Wild Card Series bye or having to play in that best-of-three series. You want the bye, always.

Ohtani just completed Year 3 of his landmark and heavily deferred 10-year, $700 million contract. The injuries and late-season fade at the plate make it nearly certain that Ohtani will not win a fourth consecutive MVP award, and the fifth MVP of his career.