The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to have a conversation with Shohei Ohtani about potentially benching him, according to The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya.
Ohtani has been playing through injuries, and his struggles at the plate are becoming a bigger issue. The Dodgers are down 0-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series, and they cannot afford any more terrible offensive performances. However, benching a player who could go down as the greatest of all time might not be the solution.
Ohtani is not the only problem right now for the Dodgers, but he is one of them. He is also one of the players who could instantly turn this series around. He can be part of the fix, and the Dodgers should take a page out of the Milwaukee Brewers' playbook to help their offense without benching their best player.
Christian Yelich had a solid start to the season, and then hit a wall. On Aug. 3, he was hitting .234 with a .687 OPS. He had hit in the top four spots of the lineup in every game to that point, but the Brewers knew something had to give. They did not bench him or platoon him. They dropped him down in the order. It took some pressure off Yelich, and it brought some better bats to the top of the lineup. Yelich's numbers did not really improve, but the offense as a whole was better, and he looked more comfortable.
He was not the only Brewers' star to get bumped down. William Contreras was also dropped down in the order for a while, but earned his way back up by getting hot. Yelich also earned his way back up into the two-hole in the postseason against the San Diego Padres by getting hot.
In fact, in the postseason, Yelich and Contreras have been the two best hitters on the team. Manager Pat Murphy knew that benching his stars was not a fix. However, the Dodgers are deeper than the Brewers, so they may view things differently.
Benching Ohtani for Josue De Paula could be a move the Dodgers make, but it seems hard to believe that the Dodgers offense will fix itself without Ohtani as part of the solution.