Ortho Surgeon Breaks Down Shohei Ohtani Shoulder Injury, Impact On World Series

Shohei Ohtani Will Injury Impact Dodgers Slugger?? ... Ortho Surgeon Explains

The Dodgers say Shohei Ohtani WILL play game 3 of the World Series -- despite partially dislocating his shoulder -- the question is, how effective can he actually be?! TMZ Sports talked to an orthopedic sports surgeon about the injury.

"Ohtani's apparent shoulder injury during the last game of the World Series was diagnosed as a shoulder subluxation," Dr. David Abbasi told us, adding, "That is not as severe as a shoulder dislocation."

FYI, a subluxation is where the ball (humeral head) of the shoulder joint partially slips out of the socket ... compared to a full dislocation where the ball fully slips out of the glenoid cavity.

Of course, the injury happened during the 7th inning as 30-year-old Ohtani was gunned down attempting to steal second. The Dodgers superstar slugger was clearly in a lot of pain ... and was removed from the game.

On Sunday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Shohei would more than likely play Monday night at Yankees Stadium in the Bronx ... after receiving treatment. Dr. Abbasi, who practices in Florida, broke down what the care plan would look like for Ohtani.

"He has been cleared to play in the next game. So around the clock, he's going to get treatment and rehab. They're going to try to decrease the pain and inflammation. The biggest concern is making sure he has full range of motion, hopefully painless, and also full strength."

Abbasi says doctors will do what they can to limit Ohtani's discomfort.

"So this may include the physical therapist around the clock, anti-inflammatories to try to decrease inflammation, possibly even injections into the shoulder like cortisone to try to decrease pain and allow him to have full range of motion and full strength."

Game 3 starts a few minutes after 5 PM PT ... less than 48 hours after Ohtani first suffered the serious injury.