Dodgers 2026 report card: Shohei Ohtani gets an F, only two hitters receive an A
The first in a two-part series grading every Dodgers player on their 2026 season.First up, the hitters:The Los Angeles Dodgers won 100 games this season.
They won the National League West division yet again, culminating in another National League Championship Series birth.But unlike the past two seasons, things did not go their way.The Brewers vastly outplayed the Dodgers, sweeping them in four games.
Dave Roberts was left to do nothing but give props to the opposing side.Arguably the biggest culprit of the Dodgers’ failure toward the goal of a World Series three-peat was the offensive ineptitude.As we head into the offseason, we want to provide season long grades for each hitter on the Dodgers for 2026.To be clear: The two-way star was the second-best player in the National League this year, hitting 30 home runs and posting a sub-2.00 ERA in 14 starts on the mound.
Even in a relatively down year for him, he finished fifth in the majors in Fangraphs’ version of wins above replacement.He remains, undoubtedly, MLB’s foremost star player and the Dodgers’ most potent weapon.But that is why the way his season finished was such a failure.What mattered most for the Dodgers this year was having Ohtani –– especially as a hitter –– at full strength come the postseason.
By trying to play through right arm and left knee injuries, he wasn’t.And while there is blame to be shared for the way his health was managed, from team decision-makers to Ohtani himself, it is impossible not to second-guess what this October might have looked like if the slugger was in a better place physically.Instead, his .192 playoff batting average was not nearly enough to save the Dodgers’ offense.
In the end, his one big swing in Game 4 of the NLCS was too little, too late.Moving forward, he and the team might have to reimagine his usage to avoid a repeat of this year.
Because, especially as the rest of the roster gets older, they can’t afford another late-season injury crisi...