Shohei Ohtani, physically diminished and mired in one of the worst slumps of his major league career, will remain in the lineup for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Ohtani, 32, has just three singles in 20 at-bats this postseason, with seven strikeouts and three walks. He has not hit a home run since Aug. 17, and finished the regular season batting .160 with a .284 on-base percentage over his final 88 plate appearances. The Dodgers finally put him on the injured list in early September, a concession to left knee and right biceps injuries that hampered him much of this season and reduced him to a one-way player.
It's a significant contrast from last postseason, when
Ohtani hit eight home runs in 84 plate appearances, posted a .405 OBP and 1.096 OPS, while pitching at least once every series. The Dodgers won their second consecutive World Series, in seven games over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Facing a 2-0 deficit in this NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, Roberts held a long conversation with Ohtani in the off day before Game 3 and emerged confident Ohtani will begin producing.
"The word I would use is conviction: He was very convicted that he's on to something mechanically," Roberts told reporters in Los Angeles. "He was adamant that he can help us, he's well enough to help us win a baseball game. That's all we needed to hear."
The Dodgers and Ohtani have both kept the extent of his injuries vague, and Ohtani's performance since returning from the IL - a combined 8-for-41 including the postseason, with just one double and 15 strikeouts - have hardly tamped down concerns about his health.
"It’s everything. It’s the upper body. It’s the knee. He’s just not perfect," says Roberts. "But in his words, he’s ready to go."
In a sense, the fear of the Dodgers pulling the plug on Ohtani before he breaks out seems to exceed the concerns continuing to run him out there. For now, the potential outweighs the empty plate appearances the Dodgers have received from their superstar through two NLCS games.
"We can all kind of analyze this. But no one knows what’s going to happen tomorrow or ensuing days," says Roberts. "But in this big moment, we’re listening to Shohei and we’re going to support the crap out of him and believe in him."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani will play in NLCS Game 3 as Dave Roberts feels breakthrough is near
