Shohei Ohtani partially dislocated his left shoulder during the World Series

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani partially dislocated his left shoulder during the seventh inning of Game 2 on Saturday World Series against the New York Yankees when he attempted to steal second base.

Ohtani's status for Monday's Game 3 in New York is unclear. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani has “a mild left shoulder subluxation” and will undergo an imaging test either Saturday night or Sunday.

Ohtani clutched his left forearm after being tagged on a foot-first slide by shortstop Anthony Volpe for the final out of the inning. He lay near the bag for a few minutes before being attended to by trainers and leaving the field.

“We will know more in the next few days,” Roberts said. “The power was great. The range of motion is good, so we are encouraged. But of course I can't speculate because I don't have the scans yet. Once we have the scans we will know more.”

The Dodgers held on a 4-2 win and led the series 2-0.

The Japanese slugger – and presumptive National League MVP – was 0 for 3 with one walk in the game. He is 1 for 8 in the first two games of the Fall Classic and is hitting three home runs and 10 RBIs in his first postseason in the majors. 260.

“That was hard. “You never like it when the best player in the game gets hurt like that,” Yankees superstar Aaron Judge said. “Trying to steal a base like that there and something like that happens.” But hopefully it's all 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 a major injury. The pitching staff has been plagued by injuries, with nearly every member of the starting lineup on the injured list.

Among position players, Mookie Betts was out nearly two months with a broken left hand, and Max Muncy was out nearly half the season with a right oblique muscle strain. Freddie Freeman is playing in the postseason with a severe right ankle sprain.

Betts is optimistic that the Dodgers will persevere with Ohtani out, especially after the team overcame injuries to claim the most regular-season wins in the majors and reach the World Series for the fourth time in eight seasons.

“We have a great group of people here and I think we can certainly take care of business. I believe in all of us,” Betts said.

Most of Ohtani's injuries since he entered the majors in 2018 have been pitching-related, including major right elbow surgeries in 2018 and last year. The two-way phenom didn't throw a pitch this year but became the first player in major league history with at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season.

In September 2019, he underwent surgery on his left kneecap due to a rare disease. The procedure was performed on his bipartite patella, i.e. a two-part kneecap that was not fused together at birth.

Ohtani missed the 2017 World Baseball Classic after undergoing ankle surgery for an injury sustained during the 2016 Japan Series.

“If there's a group like this, they picked me up when I was down. We will try to do the same for him,” Freeman said.

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