Sports
Column: Is Shohei Ohtani ready for his first pennant race with the Dodgers?
October came early this year for Dave Roberts.
With the Dodgers dropping six of their final seven games before the All-Star break, the annual scapegoating of Roberts started three months ahead of schedule.
The postgame talk show on the team’s flagship station always fields complaints about the manager when the Dodgers lose, but the volume of such calls increased last week. Other fans vented on social media.
This was news to Shohei Ohtani, who described his relationship with Roberts as “wonderful.”
“I think he’s a manager who has a lot of conversations with players individually,” Ohtani said in Japanese earlier this week. “I myself, there are many areas with which he’s helped me.”
Ohtani applauded his manager’s consistent professionalism.
“As one of the top commanders on the team, I think the manager approaches every game with focus,” he said.
Ohtani is almost certain to be asked about Roberts again.
And again.
And again.
Ohtani has probably figured this out by now, considering the observations he’s made about the Dodgers and their fans.
He’s about to experience his first major-league pennant race, for the No. 1 sports franchise in this country’s second-largest market, no less. The first-place Dodgers resume play on Friday night when they host the Boston Red Sox.
“Including the fans, I think it’s a passionate team,” he said.
Ohtani described an environment in which prolonged satisfaction is never derived from regular-season victories, with attention immediately shifting to the next game.
He’s embraced the expectations that produce that mindset. He accepts that if the Dodgers don’t win the World Series this year, they will have failed.
“Of course, only one team wins every year,” he said. “I think every other team thinks they failed. On that point, I think it’s no different for the teams that advanced to the playoffs and the teams that didn’t.”
In recent weeks, Ohtani has referenced the number of players the Dodgers have on the injured list, basically saying this was a period the team had to endure as it waited for them to return.
The Dodgers assembled a rotation consisting of one major health risk after another. The result has been an injury-ravaged staff that has forced Roberts to rely on a disproportionate number of bullpen games and emergency starts from minor leaguers.
No. 1 and 2 starters Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are hurt, with Yamamoto on the 60-day injured list and unlikely to return until rosters expand in September. Clayton Kershaw’s recovery from an offseason shoulder operation has been delayed once already. Walker Buehler aborted his intial comeback from an elbow reconstruction and is now working with private coaches on the other side of the country.
Hard-throwing Bobby Miller, the second-year right-hander whom the Dodgers hoped would emerged as a frontline starter, was demoted to triple A.
The Dodgers are also without one of the best offensive players, All-Star Mookie Betts, who is sidelined with a broken hand.
Still, they hold a seven-game advantage over the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres in the National League West, and Ohtani was upbeat his team could reverse its current downward trend.
“Using this All-Star break, I would like us to restart with new feelings,” he said. “Also, people who are injured will return. Together with players like that, I’d like to do my best in the second half.”
Ohtani will return from the midseason intermission as a triple-crown candidate, as he ranks first in the NL in home runs (29), second in average (.316) and third in runs batted in (69).
Now in this seventh major-league season, the 30-year-old Ohtani said he’s gained confidence in his ability to work his way out of slumps.
“As the years stack up, when I’m not doing well, I think I’m better able to more or less understand the reasons,” he said. “New things come up, of course, but I think there are more cases where I know that if I do certain things, things will move in a good direction. In that sense, as the number of years pile up, I think there will be fewer ups and downs.”
The Dodgers are counting on that.
That shouldn’t be a problem for Ohtani, who said the responsibility to get the team back on the track belonged to the players.
“We have to do our best each and every game to respond to the expectations of the fans and the manager,” he said.
Sixty-five games remain in the regular season. Ohtani’s long-awaited October moment is near.
Until Tuesday night, only one Mexican-born player had been an NBA draft pick. Eduardo Nájera was selected 38th overall in the second round by the Houston Rockets in 2000 and enjoyed a 12-year career as a backup forward with five teams.
Karim López joined him when the Detroit Pistons snapped him up at No. 21, making him the first Mexican-born first-round draft selection.
Lopez donned the Pistons’ cap handed to him by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, then was immediately traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.
López, a 19-year-old 6-foot-9 forward, became emotional when Silver announced the pick. He sobbed beneath the cap.
“It’s just super special,” he said. “I’m blessed. I mean, I have no words.”
Born in Hermosillo in the Mexican state of Sonora, López joined the prestigious Joventut Badalona youth academy in Badalona, Spain, at age 14 to accelerate his development. The academy counts former NBA players Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernández and Raül López among its alumni.
During his post-draft television interview, he displayed a custom design inside his suit jacket: Mexico’s tricolor flag.
“I just wanted to represent my culture, represent where I’m from, represent my faith, and just represent myself, basically,” López said. “Show who I am.”
Memphis clearly targeted López while adroitly obtaining five second-round picks in the process. They received three picks from the Pistons and two from the Oklahoma City Thunder in return for moving back from the No. 16 draft position.
Whether López fulfills his potential and becomes the fifth Mexican-born player to take the court with an NBA team remains to be seen. Reviews are mixed.
Draft experts John Hollinger and Sam Vecenie of the Athletic differed in their evaluation, with Hollinger giving the pick a thumbs-up while Vecenie expressed reservations.
“I had Karim López rated quite a bit higher than [the No. 21 pick] and was surprised to see him slide this far,” Hollinger wrote, giving the pick an “A” grade partially because the Grizzlies also collected the five second-round picks.
Vecenie pointed out that López doesn’t shoot well and has defensive deficiencies, saying that his game might be better suited for European leagues than the NBA.
“I’m not sure how he gets on an NBA court early in his career,” he wrote. “I love his frame and physicality. I love that he rebounds and attacks with aggression. But I’m not sure he’s good enough without the ball to make an early impact in the NBA.”
Should López make the Grizzlies’ roster, he would join Horacio Llamas, Gustavo Ayón, Jorge Gutiérrez and Nájera as the only NBA players born in Mexico.
“It means a lot to me,” Lopez said. “It’s just a great opportunity for me and my country to have this platform and have this opportunity. So super blessed and definitely take it with a lot of pride.”
Noteworthy NBA players of Mexican descent born in the United States include former UCLA standout Jaime Jaquez Jr. and former Lakers reserve Juan Toscano-Anderson.
Jaquez averaged 15.4 points a game in 2025-2026, his third season with the Miami Heat. Toscano-Anderson played five seasons in the NBA — including winning a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2022 — and now is with Pallacanestro Trieste of the top Italian league.
López is already a veteran of international basketball, having spent the last two seasons with the New Zealand Breakers in Australia’s top pro league. He averaged 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds last season.
He will join No. 3 overall pick Cameron Boozer with the Grizzlies, who are rebuilding after finishing 25-57 and 13th in the Western Conference last season.
“A goal of mine is to hopefully reach young people in Mexico,” Lopez told ESPN in March when he declared for the draft. “Trying to grow the sport and inspire athletes and people in general to follow their dreams. Show people that it doesn’t matter where you’re from.”
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The 2026 NBA Draft finally saw the top college prospects get chosen along with some friendly fire among ESPN and basketball analysts on Tuesday night.
Jay Williams, Richard Jefferson and Kenny Smith were among those covering the draft and offering their analysis during the event. One exchange among the three former NBA players went awry and led to an awkward moment.
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Jay Williams of the Chicago Bulls and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs share a laugh during the 2003 got milk? Rookie Challenge Game at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on Feb. 8, 2003. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE)
ESPN recalled the moments each former player was drafted. Smith went No. 6 overall in 1987 to the Sacramento Kings, Richard Jefferson was selected at No. 13 by the Houston Rockets before being traded to the New Jersey Nets in 2001 and Williams was chosen No. 2 overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2001. Williams’ career was cut short due to a motorcycle crash.
ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi asked why Williams received a big ovation. Williams explained that most people who had gone to Duke were from the New York or New Jersey area.
“They also didn’t see the future coming, so they were cheering,” Jefferson said.
Williams responded, “Wow.”
TNT basketball analyst Kenny Smith appears on air before the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the North Carolina State Wolfpack at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on April 6, 2024. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Smith admitted that Williams was an “unbelievable talent” but “his career trajectory would’ve been a lot different if he didn’t like motorcycles.”
Williams tried to brush it off, saying all of what Smith was saying was “on record” and that he “wrote a book about it.”
“I guess everybody that goes to Duke isn’t that smart,” Jefferson quipped. “What? He wrote a book about it. I’m agreeing with him.”
The awkwardness filled the air after that as the Toronto Raptors were getting ready to make a selection.
Williams’ incident occurred in June 2003. He suffered a fractured pelvis, three torn ligaments in his knee and he severed a nerve in his leg. Williams violated the terms of his contract by riding the motorcycle in the first place.
Referee Richard Jefferson watches the game between the New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers during the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., on July 11, 2022. (Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
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He tried to make his way back into the NBA through the G League but never got there. He played 75 games for the Bulls in his rookie season and averaged 9.5 points per game.
Major League Baseball says it has no concerns about Dodgers and Rams head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache working with players.
ElAttrache was questioned by MLB on June 12 following a detailed report by the New York Times that the renowned surgeon and sports medicine expert supported the therapeutic use of performance-enhancing drugs by UFC star Conor McGregor.
“MLB took our responsibility to conduct due diligence in this matter seriously. We interviewed Dr. Neal ElAttrache last week, covering multiple topics, and he answered our questions thoroughly,” MLB said in a statement obtained by The Times Tuesday night.
“Based on our interview, the review of relevant records, Dr. ElAttrache’s long history of support for and cooperation with the Joint Drug Program and the fact that no Therapeutic Use Exemption requests of this nature have been submitted by Dr. ElAttrache or anyone else, we do not have any concerns regarding Dr. ElAttrache’s treatment of MLB players, or his adherence to the Joint Drug Programs and related rules.
“We consider this matter closed.”
ElAttrache performed surgery on McGregor in July 2021, inserting a rod, plates and screws into his left leg after the fighter broke his tibia and fibula during a mixed martial arts bout against Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas.
McGregor’s recovery was lengthy and arduous. ElAttrache told the New York Times that while he did not prescribe steroids for McGregor, he referred him to a specialist who did. Furthermore, ElAttrache wrote a letter supporting McGregor’s request for a therapeutic use exemption from UFC drug policies.
“I felt it would be appropriate to consult other physicians with expertise in bone healing/bone metabolism,” ElAttrache told the New York Times via text. “I recommended the consultations but not the course of treatment.”
ElAttrache said he told McGregor to check with UFC drug testers about prescriptions the consultant gave him. “I purposely wasn’t involved with his evaluation by the consultant nor with prescribing medication,” ElAttrache said.
The exemption request was denied by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the drug testing organization the UFC used at the time, triggering a split between the two organizations. McGregor withdrew from the UFC anti-doping program shortly thereafter and no longer was required to undergo testing for banned substances.
The report prompted MLB to talk with ElAttrache about his approach to treating players.
ElAttrache, operating primarily out of the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, has performed elbow or shoulder surgeries on prominent Dodgers past and present, including Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin and Walker Buehler as well as former Rams stars Cooper Kupp and Cam Akers.
Among the hundreds of surgeries performed over three decades by ElAttrache, his patients include the four 2024 MLB most valuable player and Cy Young Award winners — Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal. ElAttrache’s patients include 18 of 29 players who won the MVP or Cy Young awards over the past 10 years.
“I have spoken with MLB and I am very comfortable with the process that the league and I will complete to assure the public that I have followed every rule and regulation in my medical treatment of athletes without exception,” ElAttrache said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times earlier this month. “My record is completely clean, including in this case.”
Times staff writers Steve Henson, Bill Shaikin, Sam Farmer and Gary Klein contributed to this report.
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