Roberts Keeps Ohtani in Game 3 — but the Dodgers' 2-for-26 Crisis Runs Deeper
GOATIFYThe Los Angeles Dodgers have reached the uncomfortable point where keeping their biggest star in the lineup is both the obvious decision and an admission that their other answers have not worked. Dave Roberts confirmed Shohei Ohtani will play against Milwaukee in Wednesday's National League Championship Series Game 3, despite a brutal October slump and lingering physical issues. The two-time defending champions are down 2-0. Their bats have produced a .193 postseason average and only two hits in 26 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Ohtani's individual numbers are stark, but treating this as a one-player problem would miss the larger story. Milwaukee has attacked the Dodgers' starting pitchers, erased promising offensive situations and made its bullpen look nearly untouchable. Los Angeles gets a home game and Blake Snell on the mound next. What it really needs is a more functional offense, not simply one superstar swing.
Roberts is keeping Ohtani in — but the swing problems are real
Roberts considered whether a day away from the lineup might help Ohtani, then spoke with him and decided to keep him in the Game 3 plan. That is a meaningful development from the uncertainty surrounding the designated hitter after Monday's defeat. It does not mean the underlying concerns disappeared. Ohtani has three singles in 20 postseason at-bats, seven strikeouts and no extra-base hits. He went hitless in four at-bats in Game 2, and his last home run came on August 18.
The physical backdrop matters. Ohtani has managed discomfort involving his left knee, right biceps and neck, although he has resisted making those issues an excuse for his performance. He believes mechanical adjustments can bring his swing back into sync. The coaching staff appears to believe his ceiling is still high enough to justify another opportunity rather than using a critical game to experiment with a replacement.
There are signs that this is not merely a run of hard-hit balls finding gloves. In the NLCS, Ohtani's contact has lacked its usual authority. A team report noted that only five of his 13 postseason batted-ball events had reached the 95-mph hard-hit threshold through Game 2, with none of those five coming in the championship series. Opponents have also been careful about giving him hittable pitches. His strike-zone rate was among the lowest for hitters seeing at least 100 postseason pitches, a reminder that plate discipline remains valuable even when the power has gone missing.
For Roberts, the decision is less about pretending Ohtani is healthy and dominant than about choosing the least costly uncertainty. Benching him could remove a player capable of changing a series in one plate appearance; playing him risks more empty trips at the plate if the swing does not recover. The most realistic goal is not a dramatic three-homer night. It is better pitch selection, harder contact and at-bats that keep pressure on Milwaukee even without a long ball.
Two hits in 26 scoring chances expose a lineup-wide failure
The most damning Dodgers number is not Ohtani's .150 batting average. It is the team's two hits in 26 at-bats with runners in scoring position. That rate means Los Angeles has repeatedly created a chance to score and then failed to finish the inning. Across the postseason the lineup is batting .193, and Game 2 produced only three hits despite four runs. Some of those runs came through sacrifice flies and Milwaukee mistakes rather than sustained offensive control.
This distinction matters because the Dodgers do not need every hitter to become a home-run threat overnight. They need to extend innings. A walk ahead of a hard single, a productive swing with a runner at third, or a line drive through the infield can alter the leverage of an entire game. Milwaukee has been able to pitch with comparatively small margins because Los Angeles has not consistently punished the opportunities it creates.
The supporting cast must carry a greater share of that burden. Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Mookie Betts, Andy Pages and the rest of the order cannot all wait for Ohtani to supply the defining moment. When the lineup is deep on paper but disconnected in practice, every hitter starts to press for a heroic result. That can make the opposing pitcher's job easier: chasing early in the count, swinging at pitches designed for weak contact, and failing to force the bullpen into stressful sequences.
The first two NLCS games have offered two different warnings. In Game 1, Los Angeles scored once and could not turn enough opportunities into runs. In Game 2, the Dodgers briefly found offense but still lost 7-4 after Milwaukee's hitters forced an early exit from Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Scoring four runs on three hits is not a repeatable formula, especially against a club that is comfortable manufacturing rallies of its own.
A better Game 3 offense would be visible before the scoreboard changes. It would feature deeper counts, fewer empty swings at borderline pitches, and multiple hitters reaching base in the same inning. Those are smaller objectives than asking Ohtani to rescue the series alone, but they are the habits that make a late rally possible.
Milwaukee's bullpen is making the Dodgers' margin even smaller
The Brewers have not needed their starters to work deep into games to establish control. Their relievers have been the series' clearest separator. After the first two contests, Milwaukee's bullpen had combined for 9 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits in 30 at-bats. In Game 2 alone, Brewers relievers retired all 15 batters they faced. That is not simply a statistical curiosity; it changes how the Dodgers must approach the opening five innings.
If Los Angeles waits until the sixth or seventh to build its best rally, it may already be facing a parade of fresh arms who have demonstrated they can protect a lead. Milwaukee can mix looks and roles without needing a conventional starter to absorb seven innings. Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill give manager Pat Murphy different ways to attack the heart of a lineup, and the Brewers have shown that a modest advantage can survive late pressure.
The tactical response is not necessarily to swing earlier. It is to force the starter and first reliever into uncomfortable counts while still taking hittable pitches seriously. The Dodgers must make Milwaukee pay for traffic on the bases before the game reaches its most favorable bullpen matchups. A one-run deficit is manageable in the abstract; against a relief group that is allowing almost nothing, it can feel much larger.
Milwaukee's hitters have also helped create that advantage. Christian Yelich's two-run single shortened Yamamoto's Game 2 start, while William Contreras delivered three RBIs and the go-ahead hit. Those contributions gave the Brewers the freedom to deploy their relief arms aggressively rather than chase the game from behind. The Dodgers cannot separate their pitching and hitting problems: a short start taxes their bullpen, and a quiet lineup gives that exhausted group almost no margin for error.
None of this guarantees Milwaukee will remain perfect. Relief dominance can change quickly with one badly located pitch. But through two games, the Brewers have earned the right to make Los Angeles prove it can string together quality at-bats against more than one pitcher in an inning.
Snell gets the ball — and the Dodgers need a complete reset at home
Game 3 shifts to Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, October 14, with Blake Snell scheduled to face Milwaukee left-hander Robert Gasser. The Dodgers entered the game trailing 2-0, and that position has historically been difficult to escape. Teams that have lost the first two games of a best-of-seven postseason series have come back to win only 16 of 95 times. In the 2-3-2 format when the first two defeats occurred on the road, the comeback figure has been 11 of 57. The path remains open, but it is narrow.
Snell gives Los Angeles a plausible way to widen it. He has handled major October assignments before, including eight innings of one-hit baseball against Milwaukee in last year's NLCS opener. His 2026 season has been interrupted by injuries and limited to nine regular-season starts, so expecting a carbon copy of that performance would be unrealistic. In his earlier playoff start against Atlanta, he walked five batters and lasted 3 2/3 innings. The most important improvement may be simple: get ahead in counts and stay on the mound long enough to spare the bullpen.
The Dodgers assembled a rotation built to withstand almost any matchup. Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were supposed to create the foundation for another long October run, yet the Brewers pushed both out earlier than Los Angeles wanted in Games 1 and 2. Snell now has an opportunity to interrupt that pattern. His own comments have emphasized momentum rather than panic, and a strong first inning would give the home crowd and the lineup a reason to settle.
Gasser presents a different challenge. The left-hander carried a 3.87 regular-season ERA into the matchup and helped Milwaukee reach this stage with effective innings in the Division Series. The Dodgers cannot assume that returning home will fix their swing decisions. They must force Gasser into stressful situations, then cash in before Murphy can lean fully on his best relief options.
There is precedent for a championship team recovering from a severe deficit: Los Angeles itself won the final two games of the 2025 World Series on the road after trailing Toronto 3-2. That memory is useful for confidence, not as a substitute for execution. A productive Snell start, one sustained multi-hit inning and fewer missed chances would matter more than any comparison with last October.
Ohtani will be in the Game 3 lineup, but the Dodgers' season will not be saved by the lineup card alone. Their problem is distributed across the offense: a .193 team average, two hits in 26 scoring-position chances and too many innings that end before the Brewers feel threatened. Milwaukee's relief pitching has magnified every missed opportunity, while early exits from Los Angeles starters have narrowed the options for Roberts.
The clearest route back into the NLCS is practical rather than cinematic. Snell must give the Dodgers innings; the lineup must make contact count; and Ohtani must contribute to a functioning offense rather than be asked to replace one. If Los Angeles does those things at home, the series can change. If it waits for a single moment of magic, Milwaukee may never have to give it one.
