The Los Angeles Dodgers are down 2-0 to Milwaukee and their best player is hitting .150 in October. On Monday night, Dave Roberts declined to say that Shohei Ohtani will be in the lineup for Game 3.
Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that the Dodgers will discuss benching him.
The Numbers
Ohtani’s 2026 postseason line is .150/.261/.150. That is 3-for-20 across 23 plate appearances and six games, with no extra-base hits, no RBI, three walks, seven strikeouts and a .411 OPS.
He has struck out in five of the six games. Game 2 was his first postseason game this year without reaching base at all, an 0-for-4 with two strikeouts that dropped him from .188 to .150.
The regular season was a different player: .275 with 30 home runs, 81 RBI, an .889 OPS and 11 stolen bases.
What Roberts Actually Said
Roberts did not commit either way. “Yeah, I mean obviously it hasn’t been good,” he said of the slump. On Ohtani’s physical state: “He doesn’t feel great.”
On the process: “I think for me, it’s having a conversation with him tomorrow, figure out what’s best for him, what’s best for us.” And on whether Ohtani has earned that conversation rather than a unilateral decision: “He certainly has earned that conversation and deserves it.”
The two were scheduled to talk during Tuesday’s workout day at Dodger Stadium. No decision had been announced.
The Injuries Are Real
Ohtani has been managing a right biceps issue and a left knee issue since at least June. He went on the 15-day injured list backdated to September 8 and was reinstated September 23, returning as a hitter only. He is not expected to pitch again this season, postseason included.
He has acknowledged he is not at full health and has said he has not identified the root cause of the slump, which he intends to address in the offseason. The Dodgers and Ohtani both initially denied the arm and knee problems were driving the offensive decline. Roberts has since allowed that being physically compromised may be affecting the hitting.
If He Sits, Who Hits
Top prospect Josue De Paula is the likely designated hitter if Ohtani is out of the lineup.
That is a significant downgrade in reputation and an unknown in production, which is exactly the calculation Roberts has to make. A compromised Ohtani at 15 percent of his usual output is still a hitter opposing managers plan around. A prospect is not.
The Context That Makes It Urgent
This is not an isolated slump. The Dodgers have 10 hits in 59 at-bats through two NLCS games, a .447 team OPS, and they have not homered in the series. All four of their runs in Game 2 scored without a hit.
They went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position in Game 2, the fourth time in six postseason games they finished hitless in those spots. Excluding Andy Pages, the rest of the roster is 0-for-23 with runners in scoring position this October. Will Smith is 1-for-23.
Benching Ohtani does not fix that. It would, however, signal that the Dodgers believe the problem is bigger than one bad week from one player.
Game 3 is Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium. Ohtani is also one of 10 National League finalists for the 2026 Hank Aaron Award.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.