Source: Dodgers' decision on sitting Ohtani hinges on health - ESPN

MILWAUKEE — The Los Angeles Dodgers plan to gauge whether superstar Shohei Ohtani's lingering injuries warrant him sitting out Game 3 of the National League Championship Series but will continue playing him if he deems himself healthy, a source told ESPN.

Ohtani went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in a 7-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 on Monday that put the Dodgers in a 2-0 hole in the best-of-seven series. Afterward, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Athletic he would have «a conversation» with Ohtani during Tuesday's workout in L.A. to «try to figure out what's best for him.»

But a source clarified that the team would sit Ohtani only if he believed he was compromised by the left knee and right bicep injuries that previously hindered him. If he feels good enough to play, the plan is to continue playing him.

Ohtani has not homered since Aug. 18 and has produced only three hits in 20 postseason at-bats. Over the past eight weeks, a stretch in which he went on the injured list in hopes of helping his body recover, he is slashing .156/.283/.200.

«It's hard to see,» Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts said of Ohtani's struggles. «He's working, and hopefully he gets out of it. We know he's working. Yeah, that's a big one. We need him for sure.»

When Betts grounded out for the first out of the fifth inning Monday, he pumped his fist in celebration. To him, it meant something more — that Tommy Edman would move to third base, allowing him to later score the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly, and that perhaps the Dodgers had finally tapped into something against this vaunted Brewers pitching staff.

Betts' zeal, it turns out, was fleeting.

For the second time in as many games in this NLCS, the Dodgers were shut down by a