Shohei Ohtani will play tonight

As recently as after Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Monday, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers was considering benching his star player, Shohei Ohtani, for Game 3 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The California team had just lost 7-4 and was trailing 2-0 in the series. The Japanese player seemed out of sync at the plate, finishing with no hits in four at-bats and two strikeouts, struggling to make contact with fastballs in the 90 mph range and swinging at pitches well outside the strike zone.

“In this big moment, we're listening to Shohei,” Dave Roberts said. “And we're supporting the crap out of him and believe in him.” https://t.co/PgUcLeT3yw

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) October 13, 2026

But now it seems time has done its work, as Roberts announced that Ohtani would remain in the lineup for Game 3.

Admittedly, the Japanese star insists that his symptoms have subsided significantly and that he takes full responsibility for his poor performance. But that doesn't change the fact that he's hurting his team right now, and putting him back in the lineup could end the Dodgers' season.

Asked about his health, Shohei Ohtani said via an interpreter that his symptoms “have subsided a lot.” He

says his symptoms shouldn't stop him from hitting. “I take full responsibility” for his disappointing results, Ohtani said.

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) October 14, 2026

This isn't May anymore, when Ohtani seemed on track to win his fifth career MVP title and his fourth in a row. He might even have won his first Cy Young Award if everything had gone according to plan.

Much has changed since then, and the “unicorn” is no longer a shadow of his former self. Ohtani hasn't hit a home run since August 18, and that was a blast hit in a favorable environment—Coors Field in Colorado.

In the 24 games since then, he has batted .156 with 14 walks and 36 strikeouts. He has just three extra-base hits during that span—and none in the playoffs. Worse still, his astronomical strikeout rate of 34% is nearly nine percentage points higher than his career average.

Yes, a year ago, he dominated in the postseason, establishing himself as the National League's top hitter with eight home runs and an OPS of 1.096. But the Dodgers can't dwell on the past if they don't want to see their hopes for a third consecutive championship go up in smoke.

Josue De Paula would be a logical option at designated hitter; in eleven regular-season games, he has posted a .323 batting average, with one home run, three doubles, and one triple.

It's true that replacing the best player on the planet with a 21-year-old rookie would be a significant risk. But it's not as if there's any indication that Ohtani is going to snap out of his slump anytime soon.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.