Building the Dodgers’ ideal Game 3 lineup amid Ohtani injury and superstar struggles

— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) October 13, 2026Whether Ohtani ought to remain in the lineup can be discussed, however that’s a moot point today. All we can do is question what the Dodgers will do lineup-wise with Ohtani and a group loaded with having a hard time stars. We’re going to take our finest contended what they ought to do.Perfect Dodgers NLCS Game 3 lineup has Shohei Ohtani towards the bottom

We’re shaking things up, infant. Will having Andy Pages struck 2nd work? I do not understand. He’s gone simply 1-for-6 in the NLCS and has actually not been efficient at the plate at all in his postseason profession, however he has actually gone 4-for-5 with a crowning achievement and a double versus Milwaukee’s Game 3 starter, Robert Gasser. Possibly Pages can light a stimulate at the top of the order behind Mookie Betts, who, at the minimum, has actually been getting on base this series.Behind Pages is Kyle Tucker, who may’ve had a rough very first season with the Dodgers, however has actually struck.300 with an.891 OPS in the postseason, and has excellent numbers versus Gasser (3-for-6 with a triple and a crowning achievement). Teoscar Hernandez, an outfielder who squashes lefties, strikes behind Tucker, with postseason legend Freddie Freeman behind him.2 areas listed below Freeman is the guy of the hour, Shohei Ohtani, who has actually not struck seventh in a video game he’s begun given that his novice year back in 2018. Striking a gamer of Ohtani’s stature that low is extraordinary, however desperate times require desperate steps.Dodgers needs to move Shohei Ohtani down in the order for NLCS Game 3

I can comprehend the Dodgers feeling the requirement to play Ohtani. He’s the very best gamer on earth when healthy by a broad margin, and he’s led them to back-to-back World Series titles. If the Dodgers are set on playing him, in no method must he be striking clean-up, as he has actually done in each of the Dodgers’ last 3 video games.Ohtani has actually gone 1-for-7 with 3 strikeouts in this series, and 3-for-20 with 7 strikeouts in general this postseason. A lot of amazingly, Ohtani has a grand overall of no crowning achievement and one RBI given that August 19 in over 100 plate looks when integrating the routine season and the postseason. This variation of Ohtani is not the Ohtani who made a $700 million agreement from the Dodgers.Is Ohtani in fact near figuring it out offensively? The Dodgers sure hope so. They require him to strike if they’re going to discover a method to surpass the Brewers. It’s on Ohtani to show it. Striking him in the middle of the order will not assist them if he continues to scuffle. Moving him down is difficult, offered all he’s achieved which this lineup as a whole hasn’t done much, however it’s what need to be done at this moment. Sticking to the status quo is requesting this series to end earlier instead of later on.

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