Ohtani's injuries lingering into postseason, and even he can't pinpoint what's behind them

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Even Shohei Ohtani isn't sure the extent of injuries to his right biceps, left knee and neck that kept him off the mound after the All-Star break and landed him on the injured list for the first time with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I haven’t been able to get a good grasp of the root cause of all this, so I think that process is going to happen during the offseason when I’m going have a little bit more time to be able to address it,” he said Friday through a translator. “As of now, it’s something I’m just going to have to manage.”

Ohtani's health is key to the Dodgers' hopes of winning a third consecutive World Series championship, starting Saturday against Atlanta in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.

Manager Dave Roberts isn't sure what Ohtani can deliver.

“I know that once the lights turn on, the postseason starts, the focus will be heightened,” he said. “I expect good things. I really do. We just haven’t seen it enough for me to forecast it.”

The two-way superstar came off the IL with just five games remaining in the regular season. He was 5 for 21 with eight strikeouts, a walk and a double.

The Dodgers have said Ohtani is feeling better since his return, and Roberts believes his at-bat quality showed improvement.

“(My body) feels really good overall,” Ohtani said. "I do feel like my swing is in a better place — it feels smooth. Just little tweaks here and there and I’ll be ready.”

Ohtani was single when he went on the IL twice during his six years with the Los Angeles Angels. He's now married and a father of two, with his son arriving in late June to join a daughter born in April 2025.

“If I’d been by myself this time, I probably would have had a lot more time to think about everything, and I imagine it would have been much harder mentally,” he said in Japanese. “But I had a house full of people around me, so that made a big difference in terms of how I felt.”

Ohtani throws right-handed and bats left-handed. He explained that he was better able to use his left arm with his daughter. His infant son, however, requires two arms to hold, which limited him because of the injury to his right biceps.

Ohtani took live batting practice against countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto earlier in the week. The last time they'd faced each other was in 2017 in Nippon Professional Baseball, when Ohtani struck out and singled off Yamamoto.

“I think it was a valuable experience for both of us in terms of getting some game-like repetitions. I got to take a few at-bats and see all of his different pitches,” Ohtani said in Japanese. "It was a lot of fun. It felt fresh and exciting. His stuff also felt quite different from what I remembered.”

The Braves' rotation is seriously strained coming into the Division Series.

Their three-game win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card Series forced ace Chris Sale into pitching the final four outs on short rest Thursday night. He threw 95 pitches while starting Game 1, leaving his possible start against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLDS up in the air.

“A lot of it’s going to depend on how Chris feels. Certainly don’t want to jeopardize him and his health,” manager Walt Weiss said Friday. “He’s had to grind here recently, so we’re going to err on the side of giving him more rest, if it’s even close.”

On Thursday, the Braves ruled out starters Martín Pérez (back) and Bryce Elder (knee) for the NLDS.

“There's a chance we’re going to have to pitch a lot of innings out of our bullpen, especially the first couple games,” Weiss said. “We'll have to add some arms to the roster.”

The Braves had a late night after eliminating the Phillies and then traveling Friday to Los Angeles, where the Dodgers have been resting and preparing for five days.

“My world is spinning right now,” Weiss said.

Los Angeles is under an extreme heat warning, and it's expected to continue into late next week.

Saturday’s forecast calls for a high temperature of 100 degrees (38 Celsius) for the day game, when Tarik Skubal takes the mound for the Dodgers. The average high in early October is 81 degrees.

“I know the pitchers are going to have a hard time,” Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani said. “I’m wishing all the best for Scooby.”

Skubal grew up in Kingman, Arizona, where the average July temperature is 96 degrees (35 Celsius). He said he'll drink plenty of water Saturday.

“You're just not going to the bathroom because you’re probably sweating it out,” he said.

Sunday’s game begins at 8 p.m. EDT but conditions won’t be much better, with a projected high of 99 degrees.

The highest game-time temperature ever recorded at Dodger Stadium is 103 degrees (39 Celsius), recorded twice. The first time was Oct. 24, 2017, for Game 1 of the World Series against Houston. It was equaled on Sept. 8, 2024, for a regular-season game against Cleveland.

The Dodgers are encouraging fans to wear hats and sunscreen. They’re allowed to bring in non-alcoholic drinks of one liter or less in factory-sealed plastic bottles. Empty refillable water bottles are allowed. Bottle filling stations and water fountains are scattered around the stadium.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale points ot the crowd after Game 3 of baseball's NL Wild Card Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal speaks during a news conference ahead of a baseball NL Division Series Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, center, watches as Shohei Ohtani hits during practice ahead of a baseball NL Division Series Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts speaks during a news conference ahead of a baseball NL Division Series Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani speaks during a news conference ahead of a baseball NL Division Series Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, left, talks with third baseman Max Muncy during practice ahead of a baseball NL Division Series Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The FlyDubai co-pilot who stabbed a plane's captain in an apparent attempt to crash a flight with 182 people on board was barred from flying in his native Oman over security concerns, a source told the AP on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who was running in Israel’s upcoming election is withdrawing his candidacy following comments about Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Friday. Full coverage is available here.

The FlyDubai co-pilot who officials said nearly crashed a flight with 182 people aboard was barred from flying by his native Oman over concerns he had adopted extremist views, a person familiar with the matter said Saturday.

The co-pilot was subsequently hired by the United Arab Emirates-based airline, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. It was not immediately clear to what extent he was vetted when he was hired in the Emirates. Oman’s move to bar the co-pilot from flying was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

— Anna Johnson

The Indian airline captain who helped thwart the apparent attempt to down a flight to Tel Aviv told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he knew he had to get back on his feet to save everyone on board, after he was stabbed by his co-pilot and the aircraft carrying 182 people plunged into a steep descent.

“I had so many wounds. I had fallen down,” Capt. Smit Machchhar said from a hospital in Abu Dhabi. “I was fighting for my life. At one point I realized that if I didn’t get up … then passengers would lose their lives.”

Machchhar was seriously injured in Wednesday’s attack but managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to enter and restrain the attacker as the Boeing 737 descended sharply, witnesses and Israeli authorities said.

— More coverage on the attempt to crash the plane is available here.

In the Strait of Hormuz, a tanker was struck by an “unknown projectile” while transiting outbound through the waterway, the British military said Friday, adding that the attack caused a “small fire and blackout onboard.” There were no reported casualties, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said. The fire was extinguished and the tanker continued its transit.

UKMTO did not identify the tanker and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Four tankers have recently been hit by projectiles in the critical waterway, bringing the total to five with Friday’s incident, UKMTO said.

Overall ship traffic remains below prewar levels in the Strait of Hormuz, as do shipments of energy products, even though Iran has lost its near-complete chokehold over the crucial waterway thanks to the U.S. Navy's efforts to shepherd oil tankers through the strait. That, along with various pipelines, has allowed Gulf countries to restore oil exports to nearly prewar levels.

Three Israeli strikes in Gaza City and central Gaza killed three people and wounded at least one other on Friday, according to health officials at Gaza’s hospitals.

Two strikes in Gaza City killed one person each, while another strike in central Gaza killed a third, officials said.

Israel’s military acknowledged carrying out the strikes, saying that it was hitting militants in those areas, without elaborating.

In Yemen, intense fighting engulfed a residential area in Taiz City as clashes between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces raised concerns over a worsening humanitarian situation.

The World Food Program warned that renewed fighting in Yemen is worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in a country suffering from severe hunger.

WFP director Matthew Hollingworth said that almost three out of four households are unable to meet their basic food needs.

Shelling Friday by the Houthis on the residential neighborhood of Wadi al-Qadi in Taiz City injured several people, according to an Associated Press reporter in the city.

Separately, Saudi Arabia said Friday that it intercepted three ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis over the city of Khamis Mushait. The statement, by Saudi spokesman Gen. Turki al-Maliki, did not specify when the attacks occurred or report any immediate damage. A fourth projectile, also blamed on Houthi rebels, fell on a school in the city of Najran, causing material damage, Saudi Civil Defense said. No injuries have been reported.

In Israel, the chairman of the left-wing Balad party said he would withdraw from Israel’s upcoming election after the country’s Supreme Court president said a majority of justices were prepared to uphold his disqualification.

Sami Abou Shehadeh’s candidacy was challenged over an editorial he wrote in the newspaper Al-Araby al-Jadeed the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The article did not condemn Hamas and argued that it was surprising violence hadn’t erupted earlier given conditions in Gaza.

In a subsequent article, Abou Shehadeh, a former member of Israel’s Knesset, called Hamas’ attack both unacceptable and a crime. He said he hadn’t known the scale of the violence when he wrote the first article.

The court weighed whether his remarks violated an Israeli law barring candidates who reject Israel’s existence, incite racism or support armed struggle against Israel. His lawyers said that barring him would reinterpret the law and create a new threshold.

About 20% of Israel's citizens are of Palestinian descent.

Israeli soldiers have barred Palestinian farmers and activists from harvesting olives in the northern West Bank, according to video footage obtained by The Associated Press.

The footage showed soldiers firing shots in the air and tear gas toward the Palestinian farmers and activists, while settlers were also seen in the area.

Israel's military said troops were deployed following reports of a confrontation, which was dispersed. It added that a security official at the scene fired shots into the air earlier, without elaborating. The military said no one was injured.

The olive harvest season in the West Bank is usually marred by tensions between Palestinian farmers and settlers. Israel has imposed new rules this year, prohibiting Palestinians from harvesting in what’s known as Area C, which is under Israeli security control and encompasses the majority of the territory’s agricultural lands.

An earlier version of this story mistakenly said that a fourth projectile reported by Saudi Arabia Friday was not attributed to anyone in particular; it was blamed on Houthi rebels.

This screengrab from Narendra Modi YouTube Channel shows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking with FlyDubai pilot Capt. Smit Machchhar on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. (Narendra Modi YouTube Channel via AP )