Shohei Ohtani partially dislocated his left shoulder during World Series 2

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani partially dislocated his left shoulder in the seventh inning of Game 2 of Saturday’s second World Series against the New York Yankees while trying to steal second base.

Ohtani’s status for Monday’s Game 3 in New York is unclear. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani “had a mild subluxation of his left shoulder” and would undergo imaging Saturday or Sunday night.

Ohtani grabbed his left forearm after being caught by shortstop Anthony Volpe on the final lunge of the round on a front tackle. He lay near the bag for several minutes before being attended to by trainers and leaving the field.

“We will know more in the next few days,” Roberts said. “The strength was great. Good range of motion. This encourages us. But of course I can’t speculate because we haven’t received the scans yet. So when we get the scans we will know more. Again, in terms of strength and good range of motion, that’s definitely a positive.”

The Dodgers held on for a 4-2 win and a 2-0 series lead.

The Japanese slugger – and presumptive MVP of the National League – was 0 for 3 entering the game. He’s 1 for 8 in the first two games of the Fall Classic, and in his first postseason game in the major leagues, he’s hitting .260 with three home runs and 10 RBI.

“It was difficult. You never like to see the best player in the game get hurt,” Yankees superstar Aaron Judge said. “I’m trying to steal a base there and something like this happens. But I hope it’s only good news. We’ll see what happens.”

Ohtani was one of the few players on the Dodgers’ roster who made it through the season without major injuries. The pitching staff was plagued by injuries, with almost every member of the starting rotation on the injured list.

Among position players, Mookie Betts was sidelined for almost two months with a broken left hand, and Max Muncy was sidelined for almost half the season with a torn oblique muscle in his right hand. Freddie Freeman is playing in the postseason with a severely sprained right ankle.

Betts is optimistic about the Dodgers’ persistence if Ohtani is sidelined, especially after the team has dealt with injuries while racking up the most regular-season wins in the majors and reaching the World Series for the fourth time in eight seasons .

“We have a great group of guys here and I believe we can definitely handle the business. I believe in all of us,” Betts said.

Most of Ohtani’s injuries since arriving in the major leagues in 2018 have been pitching-related, including major surgery on his right elbow in 2018 and last year. The two-way phenom didn’t see the field this year, but he became the first player in major league history to record at least 50 runs scored and 50 stolen bases in a season.

In September 2019, he underwent surgery on his left patella due to a rare condition. The procedure was performed on his two-piece patella, or two-piece patella that did not fuse after birth.

Ohtani missed the 2017 World Baseball Classic after undergoing ankle surgery due to an injury he suffered during the 2016 Japan Series.

“When you have a group like that, they picked me up when I fell. We will try to do the same for him,” Freeman said.