The big story heading into a big Game 3 of the NLCS was whether the Los Angeles Dodgers could actually bench their reigning back-to-back NL MVP, Shohei Ohtani.
Considered by many to be the greatest MLB player of all time, Ohtani has hit .150 this postseason and has no extra-base hits. The player who hit three homers in a single playoff game last fall is nowhere to be found.
Yet on Wednesday, the Dodgers finally kept their superstar in the lineup; he will reach sixth place as the Dodgers fight to keep their season alive, trailing 0-2 against the Milwaukee Brewers.
In a classic screed a few hours before Game 3 on ESPN Pardon the interruptionhost Michael Wilbon criticized the baseball media for taking seriously the possibility of the Dodgers actually sitting Ohtani.
“There was never any question of taking him out of the damn lineup,” Wilbon said. “That’s what’s horrible about today’s “reports.” That people have no sense of skepticism. They are like pet dogs. And whatever people say into a microphone, they (take it).
“What? Would you and I have thought that Cal Ripken was going to come out of a lineup if the Orioles were in the World Series? No. We would have turned around, laughed our way back to the press box and reported what we knew to be true. That’s nonsense. Shohei Ohtani has never been out of the lineup. He’s injured and you have to go with him. It’s Shohei. He’s the greatest player in baseball.”
Michael Wilbon is appalled that anyone took the Dodgers seriously by benching Ohtani:
“That’s what’s horrible about today’s “reports.” People have no sense of skepticism, they are like pet dogs. ⚾️ 📺 https://t.co/ddvwyNibDZ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 14, 2026
The news was initially reported by Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of The Athletic, two veteran baseball journalists who cited an anonymous “team source.” The report follows comments from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts after Game 2, revealing that the Dodgers would do “what’s best” for them and Ohtani in Game 3.
On ESPN, Alden Gonzalez posted a similar story, but explained that Ohtani’s status for Game 3 would depend on his health rather than a strategic decision by the team. The Dodgers “would continue to play him if he considers himself healthy,” Gonzalez wrote.
Although Wilbon can often be grumpy about the state of modern sports and media, he pointed it out several times this week. These days, many sports journalists are evaluated on how often they can break original information, which incentivizes them to publish hearsay or speculation much more often. Journalists also sometimes feel obligated to report what they hear from their sources in order to maintain relationships with them.
When Wilbon and his longtime co-host Tony Kornheiser worked at Washington Post in the 1980s and 1990s, they were instead evaluated on the quality and accuracy of their work. The newspaper was not as cash-strapped as it is today, so it could afford to operate with more skepticism.
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