Shohei Ohtani back at leadoff, Rojas and Kiké start in NLCS Game 4

The Dodgers are in an unfamiliar position entering Thursday, teetering on the brink of elimination after having dropped the first three games of the NLCS to the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Dodgers managed to get some production with runners in scoring position in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead, only to have it short-lived with a pair of home runs against Blake Snell in the top of the seventh inning. The Dodgers once again are reshuffling things for Game 4, and the most prominent change was moving Shohei Ohtani back into his usual leadoff spot.

Ohtani showed some improvements at the plate on Wednesday, going 1-2 with a single and a hit-by-pitch. His flyout against left-hander Robert Gasser came off the bat at 90.3 miles per hour before roping a blistering single up the middle against DL Hall at 113.5 miles per hour, the hardest hit ball by a Dodger this postseason. The move comes as a surprise to Ohtani, as Dave Roberts didn’t communicate with the two-way superstar about his change in the lineup, per David Vassegh of AM 570.

Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman continue to fill the top of the lineup, this time moving down to their no. 2 and no. 3 slots respectively. Betts has struggled at the leadoff position this postseason, slashing just .231/.355/.231 with zero extra-base hits and zero RBI. Freeman has lost himself at the plate since his heroics against his old team in the NLDS, slashing .091/.083/.091 with one RBI across 12 plate appearances.

Will Smith provided the lone bout of offense against Milwaukee in Game 3, and he goes from hitting seventh on Wednesday to moving up to the cleanup spot. Kyle Tucker remains in the middle of the lineup, hitting one slot down from Wednesday at fifth. Tucker has been one of the only consistent bats for the Dodgers this October, as after a nice showing against Atlanta, Tucker is hitting .250 with an .830 OPS. Teoscar Hernández falls down to the sixth in the lineup after two consecutive hitless games.

In what might be the final game of his big league career, Miguel Rojas gets the start at second base batting seventh. Rojas has posted the best offensive numbers for any Dodger over the past seven games, hitting .333 with a .929 OPS and a double over just seven plate appearances. Rojas once again gets the start against a left-hander— this time being Shane Drohan— over Max Muncy. Andy Pages slides down to the eight spot, and Kiké Hernández gets the start over Tommy Edman at the nine spot manning third base. Tyler Glasnow gets the ball looking to save the Dodgers’ season for at least one more game.