Dodgers made their own bed with Shohei Ohtani injury and it might cost them a World Series

The Los Angeles Dodgers discussed benching Shohei Ohtani for Game 3 of the NLCS. Dave Roberts said after LA's hope-killing 7-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday that, "He doesn't feel great. I think for me, it's having a conversation with him tomorrow, kind of try to figure out what's best for him, what's best for us. He certainly has earned that conversation and deserves it."

It's been clear that the best thing for the Dodgers is to bench Ohtani. During his third at-bat of the night, John Smoltz said something like, "He's killing the momentum," in regards to Ohtani hitting cleanup in batting the order.

He certainly killed the momentum. Not once, but twice. Though he might've been shuffled down the lineup, Ohtani keeps finding himself in leverage spots. His first at-bat, which ended in yet another strikeout, came immediately after Teoscar Hernández had pushed the first run of the game across on a sacrifice fly. With a runner in scoring position in the top of the third, Ohtani grounded out to end the inning.

He struck out in his third at-bat to lead off the sixth, then flew out to lead off the ninth.

The Dodgers' backs are getting perilously close to the wall, but for some reason, both the Dodgers and Ohtani insist that he is healthy and able enough to play. Roberts said on Tuesday that Ohtani will be in LA's Game 3 lineup.

Dodgers' willful ignorance with Shohei Ohtani's injury is coming back to bite them at the worst possible time

Ohtani has been out of sorts since early July, when he was taken off the mound with a knee issue, but the problems have only compounded since then. It's not only his knee now, but his biceps and neck, too. They finally put him on the IL on September 11, but rushed him back to give him a little runway before the postseason, and they fell for the fool's gold of a couple of hard-hit balls.

Roberts and Andrew Friedman both admitted that they could've handled the Ohtani injury better, and hinted that their star player was reticent to be honest about how he was feeling.

Their thinking is clear, and it's understandable to a certain extent. Any team would look more threatening, on paper, with Ohtani in their lineup. What if he did manage to turn things around? It's always been easier to bet on him than against.

But it's never been more obvious that everyone involved was living through a shared delusion. Roberts vowed ahead of the NLCS that Ohtani was going to come to life. He hasn't, and now LA is two losses away from a postseason exit.

Everyone knows that the Dodgers don't, or at least don't need to, take the regular season seriously. They didn't need Ohtani in July, when he kept hitting even after being sidelined from the rotation. They didn't even need him in August, their worst month of the regular season.

The Dodgers were built on superstars, not a superstar. That's what sets them apart. Instead of trusting the rest of the team (or perhaps being unwilling to lose the ticket revenue Ohtani brings all by himself), they let him go about his business and have almost certainly exacerbated the original issue.

Pride goeth before destruction. The Dodgers, or maybe even Ohtani himself, were too proud to just admit that he wasn't himself, and they're paying for it now. They're going to continue paying for it as long as he remains in the lineup.

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