Shohei Ohtani has not hit a house run since Aug. 18. The Los Angeles Dodgers are 0-for-13 with runners in scoring place within the Nationwide Division Sequence.
And they’re now one win away from the NL Championship Sequence anyway.
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That is what all the cash actually buys.
On Tuesday night time, it purchased the insurance coverage of getting Enrique Hernandez.
Dave Roberts dropped Ohtani to fifth within the lineup Tuesday night time, the primary time he’d hit there this postseason. Ohtani struck out with two runners on within the first inning. The Dodgers nonetheless gained 3-1 and now lead the Nationwide League Division Sequence 2-1.
Hernandez gained it.
He is making simply $4.5 million on a one-year deal. He performed 41 video games within the common season after elbow surgical procedure and a torn indirect. He was solely within the lineup Tuesday night time as a result of Roberts benched a slumping Tommy Edman. Within the fourth inning, he hit a Chris Sale changeup for a two-run homer, the 17th postseason residence run of his profession. Freddie Freeman added a solo shot two batters later.
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Each contender pays for stars. The Dodgers pay for the man who wins the sport when the star is slumping.
Their 2026 payroll is projected at $322.4 million. Add a projected $163.7 million luxurious tax invoice they usually’re spending near $500 million all on this season, greater than any crew in baseball. Final 12 months, they spent a file $515 million and gained a second straight World Sequence.
The Atlanta Braves aren’t precisely low-cost with a payroll is $252.1 million, among the many highest within the recreation. Atlanta, nonetheless, misplaced 4 starters in spring coaching they usually’ve been attempting to patch the holes ever since. The Braves opened their wild-card clincher and Recreation 2 of this sequence with Ray Kerr, a 32-year-old left-hander with barely 70 profession innings coming into October. Rowdy Tellez, Tuesday’s pinch-hitter, signed on the final day of spring coaching and spent many of the season in Triple-A.
That $70 million hole in wage alone, earlier than the Dodgers’ tax invoice, reveals up within the particulars {that a} crew wants in October.
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Tuesday night time Max Muncy, Edman and 21-year-old Josue De Paula all began on the bench. Roberts referred to as that “final flexibility.” For loads of groups, it might be a lineup.
The Braves misplaced 4 starters in spring coaching. They opened their wild-card clincher and Recreation 2 of this sequence with Ray Kerr, a 32-year-old left-hander with barely 70 profession innings coming into October. Rowdy Tellez, Tuesday’s pinch-hitter, signed on the final day of spring coaching and spent many of the season in Triple-A.
And Wednesday, Roberts plans to maneuver Ohtani again towards the highest of the lineup towards Tyler Mahle. Final October, he hit eight postseason homers. The Dodgers are actually 0-for-13 with runners in scoring place.
Dave Roberts does not have to fret concerning the drought.
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“It is good to know that we are able to nonetheless win video games with out him doing a complete bunch,” Roberts stated.
For the Dodgers, that is the peace of thoughts that $322.4 million buys them.
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: Why the Dodgers can win with out Ohtani and why it ought to scaree the Braves
