Shohei Ohtani will be in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ lineup for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night.
Manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Ohtani will bat anywhere from second to sixth with the Dodgers trailing 0-2 in the best-of-seven series.
“He’s adamant he feels good enough to be in there, he’s close to finding something with his swing, and I feel great about it.” Roberts said. “He wants to be in there, help us win a ballgame and help us win a championship. It was a great conversation, and I’m excited about having him in there.”
Ohtani has been nearly unplayable offensively. Since September 1, he’s recorded only nine hits for a .180 batting average, with just one extra-base hit and one RBI, while striking out 21 times in 50 at-bats.
The postseason hasn’t gotten any better for Ohtani at the plate.
Across six postseason games, Ohtani is hitting just .150 with three singles, zero RBIs and seven strikeouts in 20 at-bats. For a slugger who routinely changes games with one swing – Ohtani went deep 54 and 55 times in his first two seasons with the Dodgers, leading the NL in 2024 — his home-run drought stretches all the way back to August 18.
Roberts spoke to Ohtani before the team worked out at Dodger Stadium. He said it wasn’t about benching the Japanese superstar, but rather offering him time off similar to Freddie Freeman in 2024. Freeman was ailing, he took time off to reset and ended up earning MVP honors as the Dodgers won the World Series.
“It’s more of, ‘Hey man, if you’re not feeling good enough that you feel like you can perform up to your ability, then we’ll pivot and give you a couple of days,'” Roberts said.
Ohtani has been noticeably playing through injury after spending roughly two weeks on the IL with left knee and right biceps pain before the end of the regular season. Prior to the NLDS, he told reporters that he didn’t feel 100% and thought he could play through it.
“I haven’t been able to get a good grasp of the root cause of all this,” Ohtani said. “I think that process is going to happen during the offseason when I’m going to have a little bit more time to be able to address it. But as of now, it’s something I’m just going to have to manage.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
