{"id":933202,"date":"2026-10-14T22:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T22:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/933202\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T22:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T22:04:08","slug":"slumping-shohei-ohtani-dropped-to-sixth-as-dodgers-face-brewers-in-nlcs-game-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/933202\/","title":{"rendered":"Slumping Shohei Ohtani dropped to sixth as Dodgers face Brewers in NLCS Game 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Slumping Shohei Ohtani<\/a> is set to bat sixth for the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> against the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the lowest the left-handed hitting Ohtani has hit since joining the Dodgers three years ago on a $700 million, 10-year contract. Manager Dave Roberts said he wanted to sprinkle left- and right-handed hitters throughout the lineup against Milwaukee\u2019s left-handed starter Robert Gasser<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201dShohei\u2019s all on board,” Roberts said before the game. \u201cWhatever it takes to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers trail 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. <\/p>\n

Ohtani, the designated hitter, is typically atop the order, but Roberts has dropped him lower during a slump that has extended into the postseason. Ohtani has been struggling with left knee and right biceps issues for a few months, and said before the National League Division Series that he\u2019s not 100% healthy.<\/p>\n

During his six years with the Los Angeles Angels<\/a>, Ohtani started games batting sixth or lower 19 times, all during the 2020 season or earlier.<\/p>\n

Ohtani is hitting .150 (3 for 20) over six postseason games while appearing visibly uncomfortable at the plate. He has seven strikeouts, three walks and one stolen base with no home runs, no RBIs and an OPS of .411.<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t homered since Aug. 18 at Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t imagine really kind of having the expectations that he has and falling short in a way that it\u2019s not normal for him,\u201d teammate Mookie Betts<\/a> said before the game. \u201cThen having to come back and be present in this postseason knowing how important he is to the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts said he saw a more focused Ohtani during off-day batting practice Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was determined, and that\u2019s an understatement,\u201d the manager said. \u201cHe was here late last night working on his swing, out with the guys and talking about things on how we\u2019re going to beat these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow<\/a>, set to start Game 4 on Thursday, said Ohtani\u2019s demeanor doesn\u2019t deviate regardless of how well he\u2019s performing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think most people put in that situation, you\u2019d have a lot more emotional volatility, so it\u2019s just impressive to see him just be a good dude always,\u201d Glasnow said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he needs reassurance or anything. He\u2019s confident in himself. It\u2019s just business as usual and a lot of smiles and the same laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/mlb <\/p>\n

Beth Harris, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Slumping Shohei Ohtani is set to bat sixth for the Los Angeles Dodgers against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":933203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-933202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=933202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/933203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}