The two candidates running for mayor of Los Angeles, Nithya Raman and incumbent Karen Bass, held a televised debate on Tuesday. Near the end of the debate, the moderators for the local NBC affiliate asked the candidates to turn their attention to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
That prompt led Raman to ask the question on everyone's minds Tuesday: "Are they benching [Shohei] Ohtani? Is that what's happening?"
Bass laughed.
The Nov. 3 election won't hinge on either candidate's take on the topic, but Game 3 of the National League Championship Series might.
Manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that he spoke with Ohtani and was convinced to leave him in the Dodgers' lineup for Game 3 on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers. Ohtani is trying to play through multiple injuries with limited success, and apparently will get another chance to do so after prevailing on his manager with the Dodgers down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
The argument in favor of benching Ohtani is fairly straightforward.
In five regular season games after returning, Ohtani went 5-for-21 with one double — a .558 OPS that's down to .411 in six postseason games. In the meantime, rookie designated hitter Josue De Paula is reaching base at a .511 clip since he was promoted from Double-A in September.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy praised De Paula on Tuesday.
"This young kid, he's got incredible power, right? His strike ball is really good. So you don't see that rookie come up with that ability to strike ball," Murphy said. "So what do you entice him with? Now you've got to go strike the ball with the pitch, you know what I mean? You have to decide where you're going to go with it. How do you get ahead in the count?"
"You've kind of got to decipher that and take into consideration his aggressiveness, knowing that he wants to make an impact on the game," he added.
With all that De Paula gives the Brewers to think about, it's something for Roberts and the Dodgers to consider. Certainly they have managed to figure out Ohtani.
Ohtani, for his part, told Roberts he's figured out something too.
"Today it's going to be another process for me to tinker and try new things," he said Tuesday through interpreter Will Ireton.
A third consecutive championship — and a key to the city — might depend on it.
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