The Los Angeles Dodgers dynasty is over, or has at least hit a major bump in the road. Thursday's Game 4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers completed the four-game sweep and sent the two-time defending World Series champions home for the winter. Los Angeles' season is over, as is its stretch of eight consecutive postseason series wins dating back to 2024.
There is no getting around it: The Dodgers looked old in the NLCS. Weighed by playing time, they had baseball's oldest collection of position players this season. Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández are 34.
The team's core hitters are getting long in the tooth. It was obvious in the NLCS. That said, the Dodgers remain extremely talented and have the resources (money and tradeable prospects) to improve their roster in the offseason, and again contend in 2027.
As bad as they looked in the NLCS, there is no reason to think the Dodgers won't be among baseball's best teams next year -- and on the short list of legitimate World Series contenders. Here now are three questions facing the Dodgers following their unceremonious NLCS sweep. In fact, let's talk about his future both short- and long-term.
Ohtani was clearly diminished late in the regular season and into the postseason. He played through knee and biceps injuries and simply did not look like himself at the plate. His swing was all arms and there was little hard contact.
Before his second-inning home run in Game 4 on Thursday, Ohtani hadn't gone deep since Aug. 18. Here is Ohtani's expected slugging percentage, which is based on contact quality (exit velocity, launch angle, etc.), throughout this season. It slipped significantly late in the year: Ohtani did not pitch after July 3 and had a start-and-stop in late August.
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