Updated
The Los Angeles Dodgers face difficult questions about Shohei Ohtani after their hopes of winning a third consecutive World Series collapsed with a National League Championship Series sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers, bringing their season to an end.
Ohtani briefly gave the Dodgers hope in Game 4, unleashing a three-run homer in the second inning to establish a 4-0 advantage - however, Milwaukee recovered to win 6-4, ending LA's postseason campaign and securing its own place in the World Series for the first time since 1982.
MLB National Anthem performance turns awkward after trumpet breaks
The defeat also ended the Dodgers' pursuit of a historic championship three-peat. Ohtani's late-season struggles have now become a major talking point, with questions emerging over whether his responsibilities as both a hitter and pitcher contributed to his diminished production.
And now Fabian Ardaya believes the organization must reconsider how it manages the two-way superstar as the MLB analyst thinks his career is now approaching a critical crossroads.
“He just was not the same guy this season,” Ardaya said to Foul Territory. “Even before the injuries started to pile up, and then he clearly wasn’t the same guy from August on. So, yeah, I think there’s going to have to be some re-evaluation of how they scheduled this out, how they have him doing both.
“He said he still wants to do both; he still wants to pitch. Do you sort of treat it like 2025 again, where you start the season as a full-time hitter, and starting in June you start layering on the pitching side of it? I wonder if that is a way that they approach this going forward.”
Ohtani's injuries raise questions about Dodgers' 2027 MLB plans
Ohtani's physical problems complicated his season, with knee inflammation reportedly worsening during pitching appearances, whilst he also dealt with neck and biceps soreness before the Dodgers stopped him from pitching following his July 3 outing.
Further concerns emerged in September when Ohtani tweaked his arm and landed on the injured list for the first time during his Dodgers tenure as he appeared in only eight games during the final month of the regular season, batting .200 with one RBI and three runs scored, and his postseason numbers then offered little relief.
Across eight games, Ohtani went 5-for-26 with one home run, three RBIs and three runs scored. Although his long home-run drought ended against Milwaukee, the breakthrough did not prevent the Dodgers from exiting the playoffs.
The franchise must now assess whether Ohtani needs further medical treatment, including the possibility of surgery, while determining how to structure his responsibilities in 2027.
Any decision will need to account for his desire to continue contributing in both roles with age a key consideration as Ohtani will turn 33 next season, making the Dodgers' approach to his workload an important factor with him no longer blessed with the same youth as a rookie.