Dave Roberts Sends Clear Message on Shohei Ohtani Before Dodgers-Brewers NLCS

The Los Angeles Dodgers are just four wins away from the World Series and a shot to defend their title. 

The Dodgers won a hard-fought divisional round series against the Phillies, relying heavily on their dominant starting rotation to carry them to the NLCS. 

Despite the team’s success, global superstar Shohei Ohtani struggled mightily at the plate. During the series, Ohtani was 1-18 at the plate with nine strikeouts. 

As Bola VIP noted, ahead of Game 1 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made it clear that Ohtani remains the key to the Dodgers’ October hopes, even after a cold stretch at the plate. 

“I think that’s a good point, and the word recalibrate encapsulates what he did last year and what we need from him in this series,” Roberts told reporters. 

Ohtani Still Central to Dodgers’ World Series Push 

Ohtani’s recent slump has drawn attention from across the league, as left handed pitchers have seemingly found ways to limit his power and disrupt his timing at the plate. 

Manager Dave Roberts remains confident that his two-way superstar will break out of his funk when it matters most as he is counting on him in their push for another World Series title. 

“We’re not going to win the World Series without improved performance,” Roberts said. “He needs to understand how those lefties are going to try to crowd him in, throw him off, and then spin the ball away. If he can make that adjustment, we’ll be in a really good spot.”

Ohtani’s slump was very unexpected as he looked great during the Wild Card round against Cincinnati. In this series, he was 3-9 with two home runs and four RBIs. 

Roberts hopes that same version of Ohtani shows up again when the Dodgers open the NLCS tonight in Milwaukee. 

Dodgers NLCS Outlook Vs. Brewers 

Just like the NLDS, the Dodgers find themselves on the road for Games 1 and 2 of the series. 

As the much-anticipated series approaches, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts addressed what’s ahead against a Milwaukee Brewers team that’s been one of baseball’s most complete clubs all year. 

The Brewers led the MLB with 97 wins this season. They have also dominated the Dodgers this year as they won all six meetings.

Roberts isn’t dwelling on the Dodgers poor regular season performance against Milwaukee this year: 

“Obviously, no one knows how the series is going to play out,” Roberts said. “But I do think, as we line our starters up, we will do our best to utilize four starters and avoid resorting to a bullpen game.”

While the Dodgers are 0-6 against the Brewers this year, they are a completely different team than they were on July 20th, the last time they faced Milwaukee. 

At that time, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki, three of the biggest pieces to this year’s playoff success, were all out with injuries and Mookie Betts was in the biggest slump of his MLB career. 

Now, things look completely different.

Snell has returned as the Dodgers’ ace and will start Game 1. Glasnow dominated the Phillies with six shutout innings in Game 4, and Sasaki has delivered 5 ⅓ scoreless innings out of the bullpen this postseason. 

And Betts? He’s caught fire as he is hitting over .385 in the playoffs after batting above .300 throughout September. 

This is a completely different Dodgers team from the one that faced the Brewers back in July.

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