The Los Angeles Dodgers got swept out of the NLCS by the Milwaukee Brewers, crushing their shot at a World Series three-peat, and now everyone’s looking at exactly how they mismanaged superstar Shohei Ohtani through an injury-riddled campaign. It was an absolute disaster, and it’s putting the whole organization under the microscope after a season that ended in bitter disappointment.
The Price of Pushing a Phenom
This wasn’t just some bad luck, folks. The Athletic’s Katie Woo laid it bare: Ohtani’s determination to pitch, combined with what she called the Dodgers’ “dubious decision” to push his return from injury, totally compromised their best player for the playoffs. We’re talking about ailments that started in early summer and just kept dragging into October. He was literally absent from the mound and, let’s be real, figuratively absent at the plate when it mattered most. This was the nightmare scenario the Dodgers promised to avoid, and it ended up being a “key role in their downfall.” You can’t make this stuff up!
Think about it: Ohtani played in 135 regular season games, hitting 30 homers and racking up 81 RBI. Those are his lowest totals since his injury-shortened 2020 Angels season. Sure, he made 14 starts on the mound, went 8-2, and put up a career-best 1.79 ERA. Those numbers are insane on their own. But when the postseason arrived, it was like a totally different player showed up. He didn’t even pitch, and at the plate, he hit a pathetic .192 with just one homer and three RBI across eight games. It was crystal clear: Ohtani wasn’t himself, and that’s just unacceptable for a player of his caliber in October.
Dodgers Front Office Admits: We Don’t Know
Dodgers president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, actually had the gall to admit that the team should’ve done a better job managing Ohtani’s workload. Seriously? You think? His exact words at the end-of-year news conference were, “How do we manage through a long season and have him at his best going into October? That’s a challenge. We have to figure that out together, and I’m confident that we will continue to learn from things as we go and continue to make it better.” Sounds like a lot of corporate-speak after the fact, doesn’t it?
But then he dropped the real bombshell. When asked what the Dodgers could’ve done differently, or if Ohtani could pitch a full season and still be effective in October, Friedman just threw his hands up. “I don’t know the answer to that,” he admitted. Seven words, right there, that tell you everything you need to know about the state of their planning around their biggest superstar. They don’t have a plan!
So what’s next for the Dodgers? They’ve got to figure this out, and fast, because the question isn’t just about Ohtani’s health, it’s about whether they can manage a generational talent effectively enough to actually win another title. That “I don’t know” from Friedman? It’s hanging over their entire offseason.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
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