LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Dodger manager Dave Roberts said he won’t move Shohei Ohtani out of the leadoff spot for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Citi Field in New York Wednesday to increase the chances of runners being on base when bats.
Ohtani is hitless in 19 at-bats with the bases empty during the postseason and 6-for-8 with runners on base. He has batted lead off in each of the Dodgers’ seven postseason games.
“To think that I’m going to move Shohei to the 4 or the 3, that’s just not going to happen,” Roberts said in a news conference Tuesday.
Roberts said he could make “some tweaks” to the lineup “as far as (Teoscar Hernández), Freddie (Freeman), the 5, 6, maybe the 7, 8, 9.”
Roberts said Ohtani has “got to continue to manage his hitting zone regardless of who’s pitching. And I do think that he can hit anyone, as we all know. But he’s still got to be kind of stubborn in his zone. And I do feel that (Wednesday) he’s got to get back to the big part of the field. If he can do that, it should bode well for all of us.”
Will Smith is the Dodger most struggling at the plate in the postseason, batting .087 with two hits in 23 at-bats.
“He’s missing some good pitches,” Roberts said. “Will’s working hard. So I don’t know if it’s the mechanical thing. I know it’s not a moment type thing. I just trust Will in big spots. So he’s always performed in the postseason. And hopefully we have a long way to go. And I just trust his at- bat.”
Walker Buehler will pitch for the Dodgers against fellow right-hander Luis Severino.
Buehler will be pitching for the first time since Oct. 8 when he allowed six runs and seven hits in five innings and was charged with the loss in a 6-5 loss to the San Diego Padres in Game 3 of a National League Division Series.
“We feel really confident in Walker,” Roberts said. “I expect he’s going to come out with the same kind of conviction and focus.”
The start against the New York Mets will be Buehler’s ninth for the Dodgers since returning from a rehabilitation assignment to their Triple-A Oklahoma City affiliate after being placed on the injured list June 19 due to right hip inflammation. He is 0-3 with a 5.61 ERA since returning to the Dodgers. Buehler was 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA for the entire regular season.
The Dodgers are 9-8 in Buehler’s 17 starts in 2024, including the postseason.
The temperature is forecast to be 54 degrees at game time, according to the National Weather Service.
“I love pitching in the cold,” Buehler said. “I don’t know why or how. When I was (at Vanderbilt), I think I had the first 10 starts that were under 30 degrees one year. So something I’m used to or at least used to be used to. Pitching in LA makes it a little bit difficult.”
Buehler did not face the Mets during the regular season. He is 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA in five starts lifetime against New York.
Severino was 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA in the regular season and 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two postseason starts. The Mets are 16-17 in his 33 starts in 2024, including the postseason.
Severino is 0-1 with a 10.50 ERA in two games against the Dodgers, a relief appearance in 2016 and a start in 2023, both with the New York Yankees.
Ohtani is 3-for-6 against Severino with 1 home run and 1 RBI.
ESPN’s matchup predictor gives New York a 53.7% chance of winning Wednesday, the Dodgers a 46.3% chance.
The 5:08 p.m. game will be televised by FS1.
The series is tied one game apiece following the Mets’ 7-3 victory Monday at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers won Game 1 Sunday, 9-0.
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