After a failed World Series bid, Dodgers left wondering what happened to their season and star
NBC News · LC · trust 35/100
Their chances were never the same, however, as early as June.
The Dodgers started June 11 the way they began the season — as a heavy favorite to become the first franchise since the 1998-00 New York Yankees to claim three consecutive championships. Their active roster, the most expensive in the sport, included two former World Series MVPs, one Cy Young winner, and a second would be added a few weeks later at the trade deadline.
The linchpin was superstar Shohei Ohtani, the four-time MVP whose pitching and hitting feats were unparalleled in modern baseball history, and had helped the club win titles in each of his first two seasons in Los Angeles.
That version of Ohtani was on display June 11 in Pittsburgh. He started the day with a minuscule 1.06 ERA in 11 appearances on the mound. Against the Pirates, he proceeded to hit a solo homer and get on base in all four plate appearances. Then, in the seventh inning, Ohtani exited with what the team called knee inflammation.
The injury appeared innocuous. It was instead the first in a series of lingering knee and bicep injuries that diminished Ohtani and eventually derailed the Dodgers juggernaut (total payroll cost: $339 million) until they couldn’t keep up with Milwaukee ($146 million), which clinched its sweep with Thursday’s 6-4 win in Los Angeles.
After exiting the June 11 game in Pittsburgh, Ohtani pitched only three more times and had an ERA of 4.50 before being shut down as a pitcher July 3.
Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani pitches in Los Angeles on June 17, 2026. Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images via Reuters Connect The Dodgers’ postseason disappointment could not be explained alone by Ohtani’s decline over the season’s back half. The Dodgers’ bullpen and vaunted starters also showed vulnerabilities throughout the summer.
Yet when the rest of the team’s offense sputtered for long stretches, Ohtani’s inability to rescue his team at the plate was even more pronounced. The Dodgers hit .257 during the regular season to just .188 in the postseason. Their OPS, a measure of both on-base percentage and slugging, ranked second-best during the season (.762). In the playoffs, that average fell to .572.
“They just out-pitched us, they out-hit us, they played defense better, they didn’t make any mistakes,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told Fox after Game 4.
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Desperate for a spark, the Dodgers moved Ohtani back into his traditional leadoff spot for Game 4 and he responded by hitting his first home run since Aug. 18, and driving in three runs. Ohtani tossed his bat and raised his arms to celebrate as the Dodgers took a 4-0 lead in the second inning. But just as it had been all season, as Ohtani went, so went the Dodgers. He never got on base again, and the Dodgers never scored again Thursday, allowing Milwaukee to recover and rally.
The Dodgers aren’t the only ones in baseball…
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