LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers for Game 1 of the National League Division Series will have their planned nine starting position players together in the lineup for only the second time in 2026, a product of the timing of a few overlapping injured list stints throughout the season.
But that doesn’t mean all is necessarily well with a few key cogs in the Dodgers batting order.
Shohei Ohtani battled left knee inflammation since June, which was a key reason he didn’t pitch in a game after July 3, coupled with
a right biceps injury that lingered in the second half and ultimately landed Ohtani on the injured list for the first time since joining the Dodgers, in September.
Ohtani, who bats second in Game 1, last homered on August 18 at Coors Field in Denver, 46 days ago. Since then, he has 11 hits in 74 at-bats (.157/.289/.214) with 11 walks, 29 strikeouts, and 18 full games without a home run. He says the time off helped him recover.
“It feels really good overall,” Ohtani said Friday, through interpreter Will Ireton. “I do feel like my swing is in a better place, feels smooth, and just a little tweaks here and there, and I’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
“I know that once the lights turn on, the postseason starts, the focus will be heightened. I expect good things. I really do,” manager Dave Roberts said on Friday. “We just haven’t seen it enough to really — for me to forecast it. I’m expecting him to play well.”
Freddie Freeman struggled down the stretch, with just one home run and five doubles over the final third of the season, while dealing with a right knee injury. Unlike Ohtani, there’s more confidence that Freeman’s injury is behind him, and that most of his last few weeks have been trying to find his swing, something the first baseman is very methodical about.
“There were times over the last couple months where the knee was a problem and I couldn’t get to the front side, so maybe I created bad habits,” Freeman explained on Tuesday. “I won’t blame it on that, I just played bad. My knee’s in a good spot now. That’s why I think the bye week is huge, personally for me I get five days to really work on my mechanics of my swing, and my knee’s in a good spot where I feel like I’ll be able to do that.”
Freeman doubled and singled off Tyler Glasnow in a scrimmage at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, and the Dodgers seemed pleased with his swing during Friday’s workout.
“[Thursday] was a big step for Freddie, in my opinion, just seeing the at-bats that he took against our guys and swung the bat really well,” Roberts said. “So that was encouraging.”
The Dodgers’ other game with these nine players are starting together was September 23 against the San Diego Padres, in the team’s 158th game of the season.
