The Dodgers are considering benching Ohtani for Game 3 of the NLCS against Milwaukee on Wednesday, Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report.
Ohtani has struggled so far in the series, going 1-for-7 with a walk and three strikeouts. However, his poor hitting has extended far beyond the NLCS -- since hitting three homers over two games in Colorado on Aug. 17 and 18, he's failed to go deep in his subsequent 24 contests (including the playoffs) while posting a meager .490 OPS. The two-way superstar has admitted to not being 100 percent and said through interpreter Will Ireton, "I haven't been able to get a good grasp of the root cause of all this ... I think that process is going to happen during the offseason when I'm going to have a little bit more time to be able to address it. But as of now, it's something I'm just going to have to manage." Los Angeles has thus far given Ohtani an opportunity to try to work out of the slump, but with the team now down 0-2 against Milwaukee, manager Dave Roberts said following Monday's loss that he'll have "a conversation" with Ohtani on Tuesday to "try to figure out what's best for him, what's best for us." Should Ohtani indeed be benched, Josue De Paula is expected to get an opportunity to start at DH.