ATLANTA (AP) — Manager Dave Roberts juggled the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup for Tuesday night's crucial Game 3 of the NL Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, moving designated hitter Shohei Ohtani to the No. 5 spot.
Roberts said the move was a one-game adjustment to give the Dodgers a different look against Braves left-hander Chris Sale.
When Sale shut out Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers 1-0 on Aug. 26, Ohtani was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. For his career, Ohtani is 3 for 15 with no homers and 1 RBI against Sale.
With the best-of-five series tied 1-1, Roberts has Mookie Betts hitting leadoff and Freddie Freeman hitting second on Tuesday night. The No. 5 spot is the lowest Ohtani has hit since 2020 with the Angels.
“We all understand that Sale’s gonna be tough,” Roberts said. “But the guys I feel at the top have a good chance to get on base, and I do think that there’s going to be opportunities where the game, the situation, bleeds into Shohei’s at-bat.”
Ohtani, who hits from the left side, batted second in the Braves' 3-2 win at Los Angeles to tie the series on Sunday night.
Roberts said he discussed the lineup move with Ohtani on Monday night and said the four-time MVP “completely understood.”
Roberts also said: "Ohtani said, 'I was going to come to you in September and say, why don’t you hit me seventh?' My point being, he wants to do whatever will help the team. So I feel good about this today. And it’s nothing as a sign of what’s more to come. It’s just for today specifically.”
Ohtani hit .275 with 30 homers and 81 RBIs in the regular season. He had two hits with two strikeouts in eight at-bats in the first two games of the series.
Ohtani played in the final five games of the regular season after coming off a two-week stint on the injured list with nagging right biceps and left knee issues. He went 5 for 21 with an extra-base hit, eight strikeouts and a walk over the final five games.
Roberts acknowledged Ohtani has been chasing pitches as he attempts to find his stroke and will continue to see pitches off the plate “until he shows some restraint.”
Roberts said he does not expect Ohtani to hit fifth in Wednesday's Game 4 against Braves right-hander Tyler Mahle.
“I just feel this gives us the best chance to beat the Braves today and combat Sale, to combat what they’re going to throw after Sale,” Roberts said. “And I feel good about it.”
Roberts said the lineup move is “not a lack of confidence in any player. It’s more of what I feel gives us the best chance to win today. And then that’s, in a short series, that’s the mindset that everyone has to have.”
Ohtani isn't the only high-profile hitter who has struggled in the series and the postseason.
Braves slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. is 3 for 18 in the postseason with no homers and is 2 for 9 in the first two games of the series. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss hasn't moved Acuña from his No. 2 spot in the lineup, but he slid Acuña from right field to designated hitter in a late lineup change. Lane Thomas entered the lineup in right field.
“I just think it’s the ebbs and flows of a season where guys get hot and cold,” Weiss said Tuesday of Acuña's slump. "And the same thing happens in the postseason. He’s one of those guys that’s one swing away from doing something really spectacular. So I don’t try to overthink it too much. It’s going to happen at some point."
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