Dodgers Weigh Benching Ohtani for NLCS Game 3 as Roberts Plans Talks with Slumping Star

LOS ANGELES — Dave Roberts will meet with Shohei Ohtani on Tuesday to determine whether the Dodgers’ $700 million superstar should sit for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, a move that would signal the franchise’s deepest concerns yet about the designated hitter’s health as Los Angeles trails the Milwaukee Brewers 0-2.

The conversation, confirmed by Roberts after Monday’s 5-3 loss at American Family Field, marks the first public acknowledgment that Ohtani’s undisclosed injury — which has dogged him since spring training — may be compromising his production at the worst possible moment. “He doesn’t feel great,” Roberts told reporters. “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.”

Ohtani entered the series batting .260 with a .744 OPS in 10 postseason games, numbers well below his regular-season MVP pace. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Game 2 and is 2-for-8 with four strikeouts in the series. The Dodgers have scored six runs total across two games in Milwaukee.

If Ohtani sits, the Dodgers are expected to promote Josué De Paula, a 19-year-old outfielder acquired from the Washington Nationals in the July trade that sent Luis García Jr. to Washington. De Paula, ranked as Los Angeles’ No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline, hit .298 with a .912 OPS across High-A and Double-A this season but has zero major-league experience. He would become the youngest position player to start an NLCS game since Andruw Jones in 1996.

The decision carries franchise-altering weight. No team has overcome an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-seven LCS since the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and the Dodgers’ offense has disappeared without Mookie Betts, who remains sidelined by a hip injury. Los Angeles has batted .179 as a team in the series with a .526 OPS.

Roberts emphasized that Ohtani “has earned that conversation and deserves it” — a phrasing that underscores the unique power dynamic between a manager and a player who signed the largest contract in North American sports history last December. Ohtani, who is not pitching this season while recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, has insisted publicly that he can play through discomfort.

The Dodgers must submit their Game 3 roster by Wednesday afternoon before first pitch at Dodger Stadium. Roberts said the conversation with Ohtani will happen “tomorrow,” suggesting a final decision could come as late as Wednesday morning.

Milwaukee, meanwhile, has received MVP-caliber production from Jackson Chourio, the 20-year-old center fielder who homered in both games and became the youngest player in postseason history with multi-homer games in consecutive contests. The Brewers’ bullpen has thrown 11⅓ scoreless innings in the series.

De Paula was not on the Dodgers’ initial postseason roster but can be added as an injury replacement if Ohtani is placed on the injured list — a move that would also rule Ohtani out for the remainder of the NLCS and potentially the World Series.