Dodgers two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani will not need surgery this offseason, according to the latest reports from President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman. Since the news broke, multiple stakeholders, including fans and analysts, have shared their varied takes on the announcement, given that the Japanese star struggled with multiple injuries in 2026.

Commenting on the same issue, Dodgers analyst Doug McKain offered a blunt response to Ohtani’s health update.

McKain criticized the front office over the latest developments, arguing that if Ohtani needed rest to recover and heal, the team should have allowed him to do so during the regular season. That might have made him more productive in the postseason.

“I mean, avoiding surgery is great news, but then why do you have all the injuries? Like why is he at a hundred percent? Is this something that just rest is going to heal? Because that actually infuriates me even more because if there was never going to be a surgery that tells you that they feel like the way to get him back to a hundred percent is simply just going to rehab and rest him,” McKain said via 97.1 The Fan LA’s Youtube.

“So had they done that earlier, we would buy based on what they’re telling us today is we would have a healthier and most likely a more productive and effective version of Shohei in the postseason,” he added.

Multiple medical evaluations confirmed that the Japanese two-way ace didn’t require surgery and only needed rest and recovery this offseason. The updates came after Ohtani had been struggling with left-knee inflammation since June and was shut down from pitching in early July.

Furthermore, Ohtani also battled right biceps and neck strains for most of the second half of the campaign, which severely impacted his production at the plate and was compounded by a poor offensive run in the postseason, as the Dodgers were swept in the NLCS by the Brewers.

Dodgers Front Office Says It Expects Shohei Ohtani to Pitch Next Season

Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes addressed the media at an end-of-season press conference Wednesday. In addition to providing the latest health updates on Ohtani, Friedman said the team hoped the Japanese ace could return to pitching in 2027, though the organization had yet to determine how it would use him.

“We have to all just figure it out together. And I’m not only expecting him to pitch; we’re excited about him pitching. So now it’s about how do we do that? How do we manage through a long season and have him at his best going into October? That’s a challenge. We have to figure that out together. And I’m confident that we will continue to learn from things as we go and continue to make it better,” Friedman said via Sportsnet LA.

It will be interesting to see how the franchise manages Ohtani’s workload next season and what moves it makes during the offseason to ease pressure on the Japanese star to perform at his best in either department of the game.