The Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly contemplating the unthinkable.
The defending World Series champions are considering benching struggling superstar Shohei Ohtani after going down 2-0 in the National League Championship Series to the Milwaukee Brewers, Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported on Monday.
“Yeah, I mean obviously it hasn’t been good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Athletic. “He doesn’t feel great. I think for me, it’s having a conversation with him tomorrow, kind of try to figure out what’s best for him, what’s best for us. He certainly has earned that conversation and deserves it.
“I’ll have (that conversation) with him tomorrow.”
Benching Ohtani requires more than a conversation between player and manager, with Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman also being included in the decision, among others, Woo and Rosenthal added.
Ohtani's OPS this post-season dipped to .411 after a 0-for-4 showing with two strikeouts against the Brewers on Monday. The 32-year-old similarly struggled after returning from a two-week absence due to right bicep discomfort in late September.
The two-way slugger has also been hampered by a knee injury this season, last pitching on July 3 and being shut down from throwing on Sept. 7.
Ohtani's cold streak down the stretch led him to finish with 30 home runs and an .889 OPS, well below his averages of 51 long balls and a 1.037 OPS over the previous three seasons. He hit his last home run on Aug. 18.
A winner of three consecutive league MVP awards and four total, Ohtani was dropped to fifth in the Dodgers lineup for Game 3 of the NLDS, his lowest position in a lineup since his 2020 season with the Los Angeles Angels.
If the Dodgers sit Ohtani, rookie Josue De Paula would be the top candidate to fill his role as designated hitter in the starting lineup, according to Woo and Rosenthal.
De Paula, still ranked as the Dodgers' No. 1 prospect after being called up in September and stepping to the plate just 42 times, has been successful so far in MLB.
The 21-year-old outfielder has a 1.081 OPS, one home run and seven RBIs over that stretch, and has walked twice in three post-season plate appearances.
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