LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani spoke passionately Tuesday with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. He acknowledged that he’s playing with pain.
He flat-out insisted, though, that he can not only play, but that he’s close to being the most feared hitter in the game again.
Roberts listened.
Roberts believed him.
So Ohtani will be back in the Dodgers’ lineup Wednesday for Game 3 (8 p.m. ET FOX) of the National League Championship Series, trying to not only save the Dodgers’ season, but preserve their dynasty.
“He wants to be in there and help us win a ballgame,’’ Roberts said, “and win a championship. … He was very convicted that he is on to something mechanically. He was adamant that he can help us. He's well enough to help us win a baseball game. So that's all I needed to hear.’’
The facts say that Ohtani is compromised, playing with a sore left knee and inflamed right biceps, which is reflected by his ugly slump: No homers since Aug. 18. Batting .157 with one RBI since Aug. 19. Hitting .150 with no extra-base hits and seven strikeouts this postseason.
Roberts told Ohtani that he’d be glad to give him the next game or two off, even with the Dodgers' season on the brink, but Ohtani didn’t want to hear a thing about it.
It would be different if this were the regular season, but not now, not with this urgency.
The Dodgers are down 2 games to zero to the Milwaukee Brewers, and if Ohtani took time off, the next time he might be playing again would be spring training − whenever that is with a looming lockout.
Ohtani wants to be the man, just like he’s been ever since his arrival in this country. Just like he's been since signing a $700 million contract with the Dodgers three years ago.
“That's what I think all great players have in the biggest moments,’’ Roberts said. “They expect to perform more than anyone. I do think that Shohei has taken this as a personal challenge.
“But at the end of the day, it's not a one-man show. It's got to be all of us, myself included, have got to be better. So we've all got to do this together, and he's a part of this whole cog. That was kind of my thing is, 'You do you, and we all got to do our part as well.'"
Ohtani, speaking for the first time since the start of the postseason, echoed Roberts’ sentiments and thoughts on their conversation. He’s convinced he’s close. He believes that everyone will soon see the great Ohtani of old, the one that won four MVP awards and will likely finish second this season.
“Over the course of this long season, there's only really a short period of time when my mechanics are completely in sync,’’ Ohtani said through his interpreter. “So it's just really kind of just going back and forth, finding the right parts of the swing and managing just the different parts of the swing. It's a constant, ongoing process that's headed in the right direction.’’
Yet, when asked how much he’s being impacted by the injuries, he refused to use it as an excuse for his struggles.
“The results, (I) take full responsibility,’’ Ohtani said. “That's all I can really say, why the results haven't been where I wanted it to be. … The symptoms shouldn't be the reason why I can't hit, and even if the injuries happen by accident, I take full responsibility. I take that as an opportunity for me to just take full responsibility for it.’’
Besides, he says, the best cure for pain will be cold champagne being sprayed all over him if the Dodgers win their third consecutive World Series.
“The No. 1 priority is for the team to win,’’ Ohtani said. “Whether that be for me to contribute on the offensive side, I do want to feel confident in the approach that I'm taking on that day, whether that be mechanical or anything else. So, that's really just been my focus overall.’’
Roberts wouldn’t divulge where Ohtani will hit in the lineup, only saying it will be in the top six spots, after Ohtani batted cleanup the past two games. Yet, wherever he bats, Roberts believes everyone is about to see a different Ohtani.
The Dodgers certainly need him. Now. More than ever.
“There's just complete conviction that he's on to something, and he feels like he can help us,’’ Roberts said. “He’s saying, 'I want to be in there. I know I can help the team. I’m close.'"
“For me that's all I need to hear. I know we're better with him in the lineup. Everyone knows that, that's no secret.’’
Roberts announced his decision to keep Ohtani in the lineup while the Brewers were leaving Dodger Stadium, but the truth is the Brewers expected this. They always believed he was playing, with Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell saying he’d have been “shocked’’ if Ohtani was benched.
“He's the greatest player in the game, arguably going down as the best player ever,’’ Mitchell said. “This game is very hard. One day you can be on top of the world, and on the next you are hitting the lowest of lows. …
“I know that whether he's feeling good or he's not feeling good, he's always going to be someone that you have to game plan for. You never know. It takes one swing to come back. I think there's proof of that even last year. Probably didn't have the greatest series to start, but that Game 4, it just takes one day.’’
Oh yeah, that Game 4 of the 2025 NLCS, in the pennant-clinching game − one that will live in Dodgers’ fame.
In one of the greatest two-way performances in history, Ohtani hit three home runs and pitched six shutout innings, striking out 10.
The Dodgers certainly remember.
So do the Brewers.
“We remember vividly at this time last year,’’ Brewers manager Pat Murphy said, “that he maybe had the best baseball game ever played the day he pitched against us and hit a home run every time up. You can't forget that, his capabilities.
“But still, all that being said, do you know how tough it is to execute what he did? You still have to go at him. You have to go at everybody.’’
The Dodgers, of course, never imagined that they’d be in this predicament, with not only Ohtani floundering at the plate, but most of the team. They are hitting just .193 with a .263 on-base percentage this postseason, scoring just 19 runs in six games, with two runs scored on errors and two runs on sacrifice flies.
Their powerful lineup has one extra-base hit this series, and they continue to flail away with runners in scoring position, going 2-for-26 with center fielder Andy Pages responsible for the two hits.
“The offense has to find a way to get some more timely hits,” Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts said. “We do have to keep applying pressure, but we’ve got to find a way to break through.”
Maybe, just maybe, it will take Ohtani to show them the way.
Once again.
“He knows we’re all still behind him,’’ Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “He's going to get a big hit for us. I know that. I can tell you right now he's going to get a big hit for us at some point, and that's going to turn things."
Ohtani knows that time is of the essence.
He and his teammates have a dynasty to save.
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani will stay in Dodgers' lineup. He's convinced he's close to finding MVP form.