ATLANTA — Another day, another new spot in the lineup for Shohei Ohtani.
After batting the two-way star in the five-hole on Tuesday in a 3-1 win over the Braves in the National League Division Series — the lowest Ohtani had hit since the 2020 season with the Angels –– the Dodgers bumped the slumping four-time MVP up for their potential series-clinching Game 4 showdown with Braves right-hander Tyler Mahle on Wednesday, slotting him in the cleanup spot for his first time with the team.
That was one of several changes the Dodgers made as they looked to book a spot in the NL Championship Series.
Game 3 hero Kiké Hernández remained in the lineup, even against a right-handed pitcher, coming off his latest October highlight with a go-ahead home run against Chris Sale on Tuesday.
Max Muncy also returned to the starting nine for the first time since Game 1, having come off the bench the previous two games with the Braves starting left-handed pitchers.
Miguel Rojas did not get a start after tweaking his back on a swing Tuesday that forced him to leave Game 3 early (he was initially optimistic he hadn’t suffered anything too serious, but the team wanted to see how he felt pregame Wednesday before deciding on his availability).
Andy Pages, meanwhile, was dropped into the nine-hole, where he will look to build off a two-hit performance in Game 3 that snapped his previous 0-for-8 slump to start the series.
All eyes, of course, will be on Ohtani in Game 4.
The injury-hampered slugger has looked little like his typically dominant self this week, going 2-for-10 so far this series with one walk, three strikeouts and several empty at-bats with runners on base.
The 32-year-old is still searching for his first home run since Aug. 18, having suffered a power outage amid ongoing right arm and left knee injuries. He also has just one RBI in that span, hitting .163 in his last 21 games (including both regular-season and postseason play).
“I still thought his intent, the at-bats were better,” manager Dave Roberts said after Game 3, when the Dodgers overcame Ohtani’s lack of production again to take a 2-1 series lead. “It’s good to know that we can still win games without him doing a whole bunch. But he’s going to come to life. It will happen.”
Their hope on Wednesday: That a new spot in the batting order would help him snap out of his extended, physically diminished funk.
