Shohei Ohtani bats fifth in the lineup

Shohei Ohtani didn't have a dream season. He still posted a WAR of 6.5… but oh well.

The reason his third season with the Dodgers hasn't lived up to expectations is because of injuries.

He hasn't pitched in three months, and the Japanese player hasn't been able to finish the year strong offensively. His time on the injured list didn't change everything.

He hasn't been himself since returning to the lineup.

So even though he's Shohei Ohtani, his manager has to make decisions for the good of the team, which has lost one out of every two games since the start of the playoffs and struggled on Sunday.

Against Chris Sale tonight, Ohtani will be the DH, but he'll bat fifth. It's just for today, and Ohtani is taking it in stride, knowing he hasn't been playing up to his usual standard.

It'll be Chris Sale vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto tonight as the series shifts to Atlanta pic.twitter.com/sE0NrU7KKt

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 6, 2026

In the playoffs (2024, 2025, and 2026), he had never batted lower than second in the lineup before tonight. And now, he'll be batting fifth.

The last time he batted this low in the lineup was in 2020, with the Angels—before his breakout season in 2021.

Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, and Will Smith will be the top four hitters for the L.A. team.

Miguel Rojas, Andy Pages, Kyle Tucker, and Kiké Hernandez will round out the bottom of the starting lineup. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the mound.

The game will take place at 6 p.m. (Quebec time), and the winner will have the chance to try to eliminate their opponent tomorrow. Otherwise, a Game 5 will take place on Friday.

In the other National League series, the Brewers will try to eliminate the Padres tonight.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.