LOS ANGELES — He stays in.
After giving indications that they were seriously considering taking Shohei Ohtani out of the lineup in response to his prolonged slump, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he “had a great conversation” with Ohtani before Tuesday’s off-day workout and Ohtani will be in the starting lineup for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night.
“He’s adamant he feels good enough to be in there,” Roberts said.
“He wants to be in there and help us win a ballgame and win a championship. Great conversation, and I’m excited about having him in there.”
Roberts said Ohtani expressed a strong “conviction” that he is “on to something mechanically” that could turn around a slump that has seen him go 110 plate appearances without a home run, 78 plate appearances with just one extra-base hit and bat .156 (14 for 90) since Aug. 18, including 3 for 20 in the postseason.
Roberts said the hitting coaches backed up Ohtani, saying “he has found something.”
Ohtani made an unscheduled and unexpected visit to the interview room before Tuesday’s workout, answering questions for the first time since the workout day before the start of the Division Series against the Atlanta Braves. The four-time league MVP was asked repeatedly if he is still playing with an injury (or more than one) and if that has led to his slump.
“The results, I take full responsibility,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “That’s all I can really say, why the results haven’t been where I want (them) to be. But I think there’s different approaches to this, whether that be focusing on reducing the symptoms and getting rid of the pain and/or just making sure that I’m moving well in the swing.”
There has been little transparency about what injuries Ohtani is specifically dealing with. The team announced that he received a lubricant injection in his left knee at the All-Star break. But it was Ohtani himself who revealed he was feeling pain in his right biceps during the season, admitting to the Japanese media at one point that he felt the pain as he initiated his swing and again at the end of his swing.
That issue seems to be more involved in his swing difficulties than the knee at this point. But asked directly what physical issues Ohtani is experiencing, Roberts was vague.
“It’s everything,” he said. “It’s the upper body. It’s the knee, and he’s just not perfect. He’s not. But in his words, he’s ready to go.”
Ohtani’s words Tuesday didn’t provide any more clarity about his health.
“The symptoms shouldn’t be the reason why I can’t hit, and even if the injuries happen by accident, I take full responsibility,” Ohtani said. “I take that as an opportunity for me to just take full responsibility for it. Today it’s going to be another process for me to tinker and try new things.”
Roberts made a comparison to first baseman Freddie Freeman playing through a severe ankle injury during the 2024 postseason. Freeman was taken out of the lineup three times during the Dodgers’ run to the World Series – Game 4 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres, Games 4 and 6 of the NLCS against the New York Mets.
“To be clear, it was never a benching,” Roberts said of the consideration given to sitting Ohtani for Game 3 against the Brewers. “It’s kind of what we did with Freddie in 2024. In 2024 he was ailing, wasn’t feeling great. Give him a couple days potentially to then reset, and he ends up winning the MVP in 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, give you a couple days.’ And talking to him, he feels like he’s close to finding something and was close yesterday to finding something mechanically. With that, I’m excited. I’m all about it. So he’ll be in there.”
Ohtani said working on his swing is “a constant, ongoing process that’s headed in the right direction.”
“The No. 1 priority is for the team to win,” he said. “So whether that be for me to contribute on the offensive side, I do want to feel confident in the approach that I’m taking on that day, whether that be mechanical or anything else. So that’s really just been my focus overall.”
For the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, Ohtani took batting practice on the field with the team – something he almost never does during the season. Roberts said he has seen Ohtani “squaring it up more, staying more into the ground … keeping his head still” during these on-field sessions.
“There’s just complete conviction that he’s onto something, and he feels like he can help us,” Roberts said. “For me, that’s all I need to hear. I know we’re better with him in the lineup. Everyone knows that, that’s no secret. So hearing that from him really excites me.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said his team remains wary of Ohtani despite his recent performances.
“We remember vividly at this time last year that he maybe had the best baseball game ever played the day he pitched against us and hit a home run every time up, it seemed like. You can’t forget that, his capabilities,” Murphy said, referring to Game 4 of last year’s NLCS when Ohtani hit three home runs while pitching six scoreless innings and striking out 10.
“All that being said, do you know how tough it is to execute what he did? You still have to go at him. You have to go at everybody.”
The Dodgers dropped Ohtani in the lineup for Game 3 against the Braves and Roberts said he will continue to hit “somewhere in the middle … two to five or six, let’s say. Give me a little fudge room” with the Brewers starting a left-hander (Robert Gasser) in Game 3.
“We can all kind of analyze this,” Roberts said. “I understand that’s kind of your job. No one knows what’s going to happen tomorrow and the ensuing days.
“At the end of the day in this big moment, we’re listening to Shohei, and we’re going to support the crap out of him and believe in him, and that’s it. … He can go up there and throw out four hits or no hits. It doesn’t change our process and how we’re going about it and believing in him. At the end of the day, that’s kind of dumbing it down, I guess.”
UP NEXT
NLCS Game 3 – Brewers (LHP Robert Gasser, 0-0, 2.25 ERA) at Dodgers (LHP Blake Snell, 0-0, 2.45 ERA), Wednesday, 5 p.m., FS1, 570 AM