Shohei Ohtani carried a 1-for-3 line out of Oracle Park on Sunday, and the Dodgers carried a 5-1 win in 10 innings into their postseason break. Los Angeles finished its regular season with 100 victories, another benchmark in a run that has made October the annual destination under manager Dave Roberts.
The win marked the sixth 100-win season of Roberts’ Dodgers tenure. Only Hall of Famers Bobby Cox and Joe McCarthy have managed that many such seasons with one club. Now the defending World Series champions will wait for the National League Division Series, which opens Oct. 3 at Dodger Stadium.
For all the club accomplishments, the immediate question is Ohtani. The Dodgers will need their centerpiece to drive an offense chasing a third straight championship, something no Major League club has accomplished since the Yankees won three in a row from 1998 through 2000.
Sunday’s single was part of a five-game return from the 15-day injured list that has offered more uncertainty than momentum. Ohtani went 5-for-21, a .238 average, with eight strikeouts and one walk after missing time with persistent right biceps and left knee issues.
His full-season ledger remains formidable: a .275 average, .889 OPS and 30 home runs. Every one of those homers came before the injured-list stint. Still, the recent stretch has not resembled the offensive force Los Angeles has leaned on through his first three seasons with the club, and his streak of three consecutive MVP Awards appears likely to end with Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong emerging as the favorite.
Roberts has treated the uneven results as a matter of timing rather than a red flag about Ohtani’s health. The manager acknowledged that the production has been lacking, but the club believes Ohtani is feeling better physically than he has for some time. His swing, in the Dodgers’ view, no longer looks restricted in the way it did before the break.
The layoff gives Ohtani a chance to recover further and face live pitching before the Division Series begins. That is the useful part of a first-round bye. But the Dodgers will not have a full answer on their star until the postseason lights come on and Ohtani gets his next turn in the box.
