00:00This whole series is going to hinge on Game 3,
00:02and Game 3 has one really big Ohtani watch.
00:13This segment was created to talk about the best player in the history of the game.
00:20Ohtani watch was about epic performances,
00:23was about his dominance, both on the mound and at the plate.
00:30But there are real conversations going on right now
00:33about benching Ohtani for Game 3.
00:38The bicep and knee injuries are clearly taking a gigantic toll.
00:44Shohei Ohtani has not hit a home run since August 18th.
00:49He has three hits in 20 at-bats during these post-seasons,
00:55and over the last two months, his slash line is 156, 283, and 200.
01:03In Game 2, he goes 0 for 4 with two Ks,
01:08and Dave Roberts said today they'll have a conversation
01:12about whether or not Ohtani will play in Game 3
01:16of the National League Championship Series.
01:19That is an unbelievable thing to read, to say, to think,
01:24that the best player in baseball, the multi-time MVP,
01:30the most electric bat, and the most dynamic baseball arm
01:36could sit for the biggest game of the 2026 season.
01:42I disagree, Eric.
01:43I don't know if you're kidding or not.
01:44I don't think he's cold.
01:46I think he's hurt, and I think he really needs to sit down.
01:52I think there's a lot going on here.
01:55I think Rick Cohen is on something.
01:59Look at the DePala kid.
02:02Try to spark something.
02:03I think there needs to be that type of change,
02:06and Dave Roberts is going to have to make a really tough decision,
02:11but I think sitting down Ohtani, if you watch him at the plate,
02:14he had some of the worst at-bats I've ever seen him have yesterday.
02:19Like, he is fooled.
02:21He is in his own brain, but when your knee hurts
02:24and your bicep hurts and you want to play,
02:27because he's a player, you have to do what's best for the team,
02:31and to get somebody else in there to try to kickstart this offense
02:35for the Dodgers, I think, is a must for Dave Roberts.
02:39It just comes down to whether or not he's willing to go to Ohtani
02:43and to tell him, you're sitting.
02:46We're not playing you today.
02:48In game three of the National League Championship Series,
02:51we're not going to play you, because what does that do long term?
02:56Ohtani is not going anywhere.
02:58He's going to play another 10 years,
03:00and the Dodgers would like him to be in a Dodger uniform
03:02for the next 10 years.
03:04They've won back-to-back championships.
03:08Has he earned the right to play it out?
03:10Yes.
03:11And I think, what do I think Dave Roberts is going to do?
03:14I think Dave Roberts is going to play him,
03:16because I think the Dodgers are going to say,
03:18hey, if we go down, we're going down with Ohtani.
03:21We're going down with the guy.
03:23If we're going out and we're going to lose,
03:26we're going to lose with the players that got us there.
03:29We're not going to have a big meltdown over this.
03:33We're not going to freak out.
03:34If we lose, we lose, and if Ohtani needs to come back
03:37and be a bigger part, gets rehabbed, gets surgery,
03:43whatever he needs to be back next season,
03:44we'll play for next year, and that's fine,
03:46and we'll try to win three in four years.
03:48Look, back-to-back-to-back championships is ridiculous, okay?
03:52They've played so much baseball.
03:53The Dodgers, the whole team looks tired.
03:55The whole team just looks exhausted.
03:58And it's, you know, Yamamoto yesterday,
03:59the Dodgers finally lose a game started by Yamamoto.
04:04And he, I don't know, like, it was interesting.
04:06He was pressing for calls from the umpire.
04:09He was pressing for ABS challenges.
04:13I just, I felt like he looked uncomfortable.
04:15Like, he felt like there was a lot of pressure on him to perform,
04:18and he got hit up, and he got, you know, not lit up,
04:22but he got hit pretty good by this Brewer's offense,
04:24and that ballpark, the environment.
04:27The Brewers just want it more.
04:29And there's nothing wrong with saying that.
04:31I don't think that's an insult to Dodger fans by saying that.
04:34Because you've won back-to-back championships.
04:36The Brewers are desperate.
04:38Their fans are desperate.
04:40This is such a big opportunity.
04:42You have Pat Murphy,
04:44who is the two-time National League Manager of the Year.
04:47You've got a lineup that is unrelenting.
04:49You have a pitching staff led by Mizorovsky
04:52and a bullpen that it's the best in the game.
04:54Everything is lined up for this Brewers team.
04:56They were the best team in the regular season.
04:59They're currently the best team in the postseason.
05:02Everything is lining up for this,
05:03and Brewer fans know it.
05:06Brewer fans are feeling it,
05:07and they're like,
05:08my God, this could happen.
