Dodgers failure to manage Shohei Ohtani injury leaves playoff impact empty

Game on the line.Shohei Ohtani steps in the batter’s box and decides this is the moment for him to ignore what could happen to his injured right arm or left knee.He lets it rip – and he barrels one up.The Dodgers go on to win the game, maybe even the series.But that will be it.That one at-bat will constitute the entirety of Ohtani’s postseason production.Think the outlook is overly pessimistic?Consider this: The scenario represents the absolute best-case scenario.The Dodgers can’t expect anything more than that.How can they after manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani will be placed on the 15-day injured list before the Dodgers open their three-game series against the Miami Marlins on Friday?The injuries responsible for making Ohtani look the way he looked in recent weeks aren’t the kinds of problems that will heal in a couple of weeks. Roberts conceded as much.“Is it going to be 100%?” Roberts said.

“Probably not.”Ohtani shared similar thoughts earlier in the week, as he emphasized the importance of making adjustments that could make him offensively productive while being physically limited.“With some creativity,” Ohtani said in Japanese,’ I think I can make up for what’s not right.”If his health wouldn’t substantially improve over the final three weeks of the regular season, he figured, he might as well use that time to learn how to play injured.His body kept him from doing even that.The one game he played in the last week – an 0-for-3 performance in a win over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday – set him back enough to where he couldn’t take at-bats he felt he needed to be competitive in the playoffs.This wasn’t a case of his condition not improving.This was a case of his conditioning worsening, perhaps even substantially.At this point, it would be completely unrealistic to think Ohtani could be a consistent source of offense for the Dodgers this year.An imaginary threat that scares other teams?Maybe.A silver bullet who could change ...