Shohei

Ohtani

Crow-Armstrong took the senior circuit by storm this past season and is the overwhelming favorite to claim MVP honors after authoring a phenomenal 45-homer, 41-steal campaign. The 24-year-old finished as the most impactful hitter in the fantasy landscape while continuing to establish himself as one of the premier defensive center fielders in the game. He’s also just beginning to enter his physical prime, making this season feel more the start of his ascent rather than a metaphorical peak. Ohtani appeared poised to claim MVP honors for the fifth time in his remarkable career, thanks in large part to his extraordinary early-season work on the mound, before knee and biceps issues kept him from pitching in the second half.

Ohtani is slated to resume pitching next year, though Friedman acknowledged that the Dodgers might try something a little different in an effort to get him through the year as a two-way player. Ohtani had a 1.79 ERA in 85 2/3 innings over 14 starts in the first half of this year before knee and biceps injuries limited him to DHing the rest of the way.

The Dodgers took an early lead in the second inning as Andy Pages smacked a one-out RBI single into center off of Brewers’ right-hander Dustin May. Two batters later, Ohtani really broke the game open with a 428-foot (113.1-mph EV) three-run blast to right-center that made it a 4-0 ballgame. That would be the extent of their offense in the game though, and they wound up being a run short when all was said and done. Ohtani had a chance with a runner at third base and one out in the seventh inning and couldn’t plate the tying run. Kyle Tucker then failed in the same situation in the eighth inning. It’s a stunning collapse for the Dodgers as they’re swept by the Brewers in the NLCS, scoring a grand total of 11 runs in the four-game set.

The slumping slugger battled cleanup in each of the first two games of the series and was dropped down to sixth against a southpaw in Game 3 on Wednesday. Perhaps the move back to the top of the lineup will provide the offensive jolt that the Dodgers need to stave off elimination and keep their dreams of a three-peat alive. Here’s the full lineup that they will trot out against Brewers’ southpaw Shane Drohan on Thursday: Ohtani (DH), Mookie Betts (SS), Freddie Freeman (1B), Will Smith (C), Kyle Tucker (RF), Teoscar Hernandez (LF), Miguel Rojas (2B), Andy Pages (CF) and Enrique Hernandez (3B).

Tucker hadn’t hit higher than sixth in the postseason. Tonight, Shohei Ohtani has been dropped to sixth, and Max Muncy is sitting initially against left-hander Robert Gasser. The lineup: SS Mookie Betts, 1B Freddie Freeman, LF Teoscar Hernández, RF Tucker, CF Andy Pages, DH Ohtani, C Will Smith, 3B Miguel Rojas, 2B Tommy Edman.

Ohtani is working on some mechanical tweaks and is hoping he’s figured something out. Even with Josue De Paula waiting in the wings, the Dodgers don’t really have much choice other than to stick with the four-time MVP, even if he is 3-for-20 in the postseason and looking just as bad as the line suggests.

There’s no sugarcoating Ohtani’s struggles at the plate, where he has looked uncomfortable and, at times, completely lost. The 32-year-old generational talent is hitting just .150 (3-for-20) with seven strikeouts this postseason. His power outage has extended well beyond October, as he went 11-for-70 (.157) with 29 strikeouts over his final 18 regular-season games since his last home run on August 18. At this point, it’s fair to wonder whether top prospect Josue De Paula deserves a look in hopes of providing an unexpected spark, particularly with Los Angeles struggling to generate any over-the-fence pop this postseason. The Dodgers are facing a 2-0 deficit as the best-of-seven series heads to California for Game 3 on Wednesday.

Ohtani single-handedly manufactured a run by swiping second base and advancing to third on an errant throw on the play following a leadoff walk in the second inning. It was Los Angeles’ first postseason run that didn’t come on a home run after their first 10 came via the long ball. He clearly doesn’t look like himself, but it wasn’t a huge factor as the Dodgers still managed to dispatch the Braves with relative ease in a four-game gentleman’s sweep.

Ohtani has gone 2-for-10 during the first three games of the best-of-five showdown against Atlanta and simply hasn’t looked like his usual self since returning from a late-season stint on the injured list to address lingering knee and back issues. There don’t appear to be any plans for the Dodgers to consider giving him any time off this postseason, despite his ongoing struggles at the dish.

Ohtani has not looked great since coming off the injured list, as he has just one extra-base hit since his return and whiffed twice in the Game 2 loss. The 32-year-old superstar will still get a chance to hit in the middle of the lineup against Chris Sale, but this placement does remind that Ohtani is nowhere close to 100 percent right now.