Shohei Ohtani will be back tonight

Shohei Ohtani's last game with the Los Angeles Dodgers was on September 7; he was sidelined due to persistent pain in his right bicep and left knee.

The Japanese star then began batting practice seven days ago and took up to 40 swings against a pitching simulator on Saturday, in addition to running the bases.

And now Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has announced that Ohtani will be removed from the 15-day injured list ahead of today's (Wednesday) game against the San Diego Padres. This is the first day he was eligible to return to play.

Unless I hear otherwise, he'll be in the lineup.

Ohtani will therefore have five regular-season games to get back into the swing of things before the playoffs. In fact, Roberts also said he expects Ohtani to play every day as he prepares for October baseball.

Absolutely. He'll need all those at-bats in game situations.

The manager also said that the Japanese player is in better shape than he was before his stint on the injured list, adding that “if he was a 5 out of 10 before, he's probably an 8 or a 9 now.”

Ohtani was a shadow of his former self before landing on the injured list, recording just seven hits and striking out 22 times in his last 54 at-bats.

In addition to the Japanese player, the Dodgers activated right-hander Roki Sasaki and outfielder Andy Pages yesterday (Tuesday), which is a big boost heading into the postseason.

Sasaki, who was recovering from a blister sustained during a start on August 26, could be an option as a closer in the playoffs, as he was last year.

Not to mention that Blake Snell, who was also injured, could be back on the mound Saturday for his final regular-season start.

There's no doubt about it: the Dodgers will once again be the team to beat this fall.

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