CNN
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Shohei Ohtani missed the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the Texas Rangers on Friday as he stayed with his wife ahead of the birth of their first child.
“He’s on paternity. He and Mamiko are expecting at some point. That’s all I know,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters.
“I don’t know when he’s going to come back. I don’t know when they’re going to have the baby. But obviously, they are together in anticipation.”
The Japanese star is now on the paternity list, where he can stay for up to three days, according to MLB.com. If he needs more time off, he can be put on the restricted list.
There is a “chance” that Ohtani returns to the team later this weekend, Roberts said, though he added he did not know what day that could be.
“He’s a very good compartmentalizer, he loves his sleep so it’ll be interesting to see how the sleep wins out or doesn’t win out when you have a baby,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers, who defeated the Rangers 3-0 on Friday in Ohtani’s absence, have two more games in Texas on Saturday and Sunday. They then travel to Chicago to take on the Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ohtani announced in February 2024 that he had married Mamiko Tanaka, a former star for the Fujitsu Red Wave in the Women’s Japan Basketball League, though he initially kept her identity secret before releasing a photo of her two weeks later.
In December, he then announced they were expecting their first child, posting a picture on Instagram of his dog, Decoy, lying next to a sonogram picture, baby romper suit and tiny shoes.
Before going on the paternity list, Ohtani had featured in all 20 of the Dodgers’ games this season, hitting .288 with a .930 OPS and picking up where he left off after enjoying a historic 2024 season.