Would the Dodgers actually bench Shohei Ohtani? Struggling superstar faces questions amid 2-0 NLCS hole

After a second half gutted by injuries, Ohtani has proven to be a drain on the disappointing Dodgers so far in the NLCS

Oct 13, 2026 at 10:50 am ET • 4 min read

The two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers have a Shohei Ohtani problem. 

That seems an absurd thing to say about the two-way phenomenon who's won four MVP awards in the last five seasons, but that's the reality for the Dodgers as they trail the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series. 

Ohtani hasn't pitched since July 3, when he was pulled from his start against the Padres because of left knee discomfort and soreness in his right biceps. Those injuries kept him out of the All-Star Game and won't allow him to pitch in the postseason. For Ohtani and the Dodgers, though, the current concern is how those injuries are affecting him at the plate. 

The concern is such that the Dodgers and manager Dave Roberts may be pondering the heretofore unthinkable: benching Ohtani with the season on the line. 

"Yeah, I mean, obviously it hasn't been good," Roberts told reporters following the Dodgers' 7-4 loss to the Brewers in Game 2. "He doesn't feel great. I think for me, it's having a conversation with him tomorrow, kind of try to figure out what's best for him, what's best for us. He certainly has earned that conversation and deserves it. I'll have [that conversation] with him tomorrow."

If the Dodgers do decide to sit Ohtani for Wednesday's Game 3, 21-year-old rookie outfielder Josue De Paula would be the likely choice to replace him in the lineup, according to The Athletic. The Dodgers would take such drastic measures, ESPN reports, only if Ohtani is so hindered by those knee and biceps issues that he doesn't feel healthy enough to play. 

As the Dodgers prepare for what is in essence a must-win Game 3 back in Los Angeles, it's worth exploring this emerging dilemma a bit more closely. Let's do that now with three things to know about the big decision facing Ohtani, Roberts, and the club trying to become the first since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees to win three straight World Series. 

Ohtani has been struggling at the plate for some time

Through six games and 24 plate appearances this postseason, Ohtani is batting a meager .150/.261/.150 with no extra-base hits and seven strikeouts against three walks. Dipping back into the regular season, Ohtani hasn't homered since Aug. 18. Over that homer-less stretch, which includes a stint on the injured list, and looping in the playoffs, he's batted .156/.283/.200 in his last 107 plate appearances. 

The underlying worry is that this is more than just a run of bad luck, as Ohtani's quality of contact off the bat has also cratered in recent weeks. Let's take a look at those declines with the date of his last home run, Aug. 17, as the dividing line: 

Date range/Statistic	Avg. exit velocity	Hard-hit rate	Barrel rate	Avg. fly ball distance	xwOBA
Opening Day - Aug. 17	93.5 mph	53.0%	26.2%	337.1 ft	.370
Aug. 18 - present	91.1 mph	47.2%	15.1%	308.8 ft	.270

Barrel rate is the percentage of balls that leave the bat at the ideal exit velocities and launch angle ranges for power production. Hard-hit rate is the percentage of batted balls that leave the bat at 95 mph or greater, and xwOBA evaluates a hitter's deserved production based on quality and frequency of contact. For context, the MLB average xwOBA this season was .315. As you can see, Ohtani has seen declines, steep in some instances, in all of these measures. These indicators, more so than the usual top-line stats, inform future performance. 

Therein lies the worry for Ohtani and the Dodgers – that this is much more than just a slump driven by randomness and bad luck. 

De Paula is a tremendously promising young hitter

As on-the-fly fallback options go, the young De Paula is an excellent one. He entered the 2026 season as one of the top prospects in the game, as De Paula ranked within the top 25 overall by CBS Sports, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus, and Baseball America. Then during the regular season, he went out and slashed .303/.401/.547 in 124 games for Double-A Tulsa. He did that despite being almost three years younger than his average Texas League peer.

That performance earned him a mid-September call-up to Los Angeles, and he thrived across 42 plate appearances with an OPS+ of 198 and elite batted-ball and plate-discipline indicators. Armed with an excellent hit tool and plus power, De Paula, who's retained his rookie eligibility, will enter 2027 as one of the top overall prospects in baseball.  

In three trips to the plate this postseason, De Paula has worked a pair of walks, so he's already flashed poise and purpose in such pressure situations. All of that is why the Dodgers may turn to the 21-year-old instead of Ohtani with their season and three-peat hopes in serious peril. 

The Dodgers are in desperation mode

Speaking of serious peril, the math is as unfriendly toward the Dodgers as you would expect given their current NLCS deficit. In dropping the first two games of the series to Milwaukee, the Dodgers now must win four games before the Brewers win two in order to advance to the World Series. 

Across the entirety of MLB postseason history, teams down 0-2 in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win that series just 16.8% of the time. It's even worse under the Dodgers' specific circumstances. Teams down 0-2 in a best-of-seven series that opened on the road, as the Dodgers did, have gone on to win the series just 15.6% of the time. By no means are the Dodgers dead, but history is confronting them with strong headwinds at the moment. 

Desperate times, desperate measures, as the saying goes. And there's no measure so desperate as the prospect of benching the best baseball player in the world.