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The Los Angeles Dodgers' 2026 National League Championship Series performance stood in sharp contrast to their 2025 showing. In 2025, the Dodgers had swept the Milwaukee Brewers in four games, dominating in every facet. Before the 2026 NLCS, the Brewers vowed that this matchup would be different, and they backed up that promise by sweeping the back-to-back champions in dominant fashion. It was a complete reversal, and that applied to Shohei Ohtani's play as well.
Ohtani struggled throughout the second half of the season, and those issues carried into the postseason. The 32-year-old had a difficult playoff run, with the Brewers exposing his struggles even further. After the loss, Ohtani acknowledged that Milwaukee had "exposed" him and gave the Brewers credit for doing so.
"The Brewers were overall strong and a very good team, and it really exposed some of the parts of me as a player, and got to give some credit to that," Ohtani said through his interpreter.
Dodgers' Hopes for Ohtani's Recovery Fell Short in Postseason
Ohtani hit .230 in the NLCS, with a three-run home run in Game 4 and little else. His overall postseason numbers were even worse: a .192 batting average with that one home run, three RBIs, and an OPS of .631, while striking out 10 times in 26 at-bats over eight games. The four-time MVP was a shell of himself, largely due to lingering injuries that weren't properly addressed during the regular season.
Ohtani dealt with a combination of left knee irritation and right biceps tightness. His knee injury flared up in late June, and his right biceps tightness surfaced multiple times throughout the year. Ohtani's offensive decline began around mid-August and continued through his rough stretch into October. He didn't get enough time to return to his average form, as he played through those injuries until he hit the injured list in September. The Dodgers hoped that two weeks off would help him get to a better place, but that was more wishful thinking. Ohtani was never the same, and it clearly hurt the Dodgers in the long run.
Will Ohtani Need Surgery to Address His Injuries?
Ohtani was noncommittal about potentially undergoing surgery this offseason. "Hard to tell at this point," he said. "It's something that's going to be analyzed, discussed over the offseason, and [we'll] see if it's a viable thing to do." What he did make clear, however, is that he plans on continuing his two-way play in 2027.