Ohtani will be in Dodgers' Game 3 NLCS lineup, Roberts says - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani was «convicted» and «adamant» that he is close to recovering from his prodigious slump and will be in the lineup for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before his team's workout Tuesday afternoon.

Ohtani went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the Dodgers' 7-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday, one that put his team in a 2-0 hole in the best-of-seven NLCS. Roberts planned to check with his two-way superstar when the team returned to Los Angeles to gauge whether he would continue playing, but a source told ESPN that Ohtani would remain in the lineup as long as he deemed himself healthy enough.

According to Roberts, that's what Ohtani communicated.

«He was adamant that he can help us,» Roberts said. «He's well enough to help us win a baseball game. So that's all I needed to hear. I've never wavered in my belief in him.»

Ohtani has not homered since Aug. 18 and has driven in only one run since. He went 11-for-70 with 29 strikeouts to finish the regular season, accumulating only three extra-base hits in the process, and has since gone 3-for-20 in the playoffs. The low point seemingly occurred in Monday's sixth inning, in an at-bat that began with Ohtani flashing bunt and ended with him flailing helplessly at a sweeper well out of the zone, losing his bat in the process.

Roberts acknowledged that Ohtani was still bothered by the left knee and right arm issues that prevented him from pitching beyond early July and eventually crept into his offense. But Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, said his symptoms have «subdued a lot» since spending two weeks on the injured list last month.

«The symptoms shouldn't be the