This winter feels particularly early for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
They won’t be celebrating a World Series three-peat this year. There’ll be no parade downtown to mark the continuation of their recent success, nor will they be returning to the Fall Classic to defend their consecutive championships.
Instead, after an impressive 100-win regular season and a league-high payroll of $432 million, the Dodgers faced elimination from the National League Championship Series, courtesy of the Milwaukee Brewers. This unexpected end to their season leaves them with a lot of uncertainty going into the offseason—one that may feature a lengthy lockout, significant roster changes, and serious questions about how to adapt to their aging core players.
There are quite a few uncertainties surrounding the future of the Dodgers.
There’s so much still unknown about what baseball will look like in 2027 and when the next season might kick off amid what seems like an impending labor dispute.
For now, though, many are wondering how a team with such remarkable talent, deep October experience, and solid odds of winning the World Series could fail to reach it.
As the long winter sets in, let’s take a look at five key reasons the 2026 Dodgers fell short.
No-Sho’ Ohtani
On paper, the Dodgers boast one of the most formidable lineups in the league.
However, in reality, their offensive struggles have become more pronounced during recent postseasons.
Since the 2024 World Series, the Dodgers’ batting average in the playoffs has been a meager .219. In five of their seven playoff series since then, their average dipped to .206 or worse.
Even in the regular season, they’ve faced extended periods of struggling performance, particularly in the second half of the year. They are undeniably a stellar team, but the output hasn’t strayed far from what other playoff teams experience.
Only Shohei Ohtani has truly distinguished himself at the plate.
This October, unfortunately, he wasn’t in a position to help cover up their offensive deficiencies.
The way Ohtani’s injury saga was mishandled by the team proved costly. Despite his immense talent on the mound, his most crucial role for the Dodgers has consistently been as a hitter. This season, his attempt to juggle full-time two-way responsibilities rendered his offensive contributions largely ineffective.
It’s not surprising that some of the other aging stars also struggled in the postseason. Last year, Ohtani’s eight playoff home runs and solid OPS helped offset those issues.
This time around, however, ongoing injuries limited the four-time MVP’s effectiveness at the plate. When the team needed a superstar to lead their offense, they ended up with a diminished player who struggled to get on base consistently.
Even when a healthier Ohtani finally made an appearance in Game 4, hitting a crucial home run to give them an early lead, he ultimately fell short in a critical moment, striking out late in the game.
The failure to manage Ohtani’s health correctly will likely linger as the biggest regret from this season’s pursuit of a third championship.
While there were several struggling hitters, Ohtani was the one who could have made the most significant difference if he had been at full strength.
A mortal rotation
Last year, the Dodgers were able to mask their offensive inconsistencies with outstanding starting pitching.
In the 2025 playoffs, the pitching rotation showcased an impressive 2.68 ERA and regularly averaged more than six innings per start.
Repeating that level of performance this year was always going to be a stretch.
In October, even a team full of stars faced inevitable challenges on the mound.
Apart from Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s standout performance in Game 3, which saw him throw seven innings and give up just one run, only one other pitcher managed to go past the sixth inning. That pitcher, Blake Snell, had a disastrous outing in Game 3 of the NLCS, allowing home runs that essentially sealed the Dodgers’ fate.
While the rotation didn’t perform poorly overall, with a collective 3.89 ERA from the starters, it simply wasn’t good enough given the context of their ailing offense.
During the NLCS, the Brewers handled each of the Dodgers’ top pitchers, troubling them consistently. This left the team unable to replicate last season’s overpowering performances.
Like Ohtani, the rotation couldn’t carry the load when necessary.
RISPy business
After every playoff loss, the Dodgers kept circling back to the same frustrating reality.
They created opportunities but repeatedly fell short, simply not getting those crucial hits when needed. Manager Dave Roberts summed it up after Game 3 when he noted, “we’re just not getting those timely hits.”
Their struggles are exemplified by being just 5-for-43 with runners in scoring position.
This isn’t an issue exclusive to the Dodgers, as the league-wide batting average in similar situations hovers around .221.
However, the Dodgers’ performance was even worse, showcasing a significant drop-off.
Having prided themselves on “winning the big moments” in previous October campaigns, they were unable to do so this year, leading to an early exit.
Utility player Kiké Hernández mentioned how this seemed like just one of those phases that happen at the worst time. While there might be some truth to the randomness of hitting, this has been a repeated issue for the team.
Last postseason, they recorded a .204 batting average with runners in scoring position. This year, they did manage a .262 average, ranking seventh in the league, yet still faced stretches where it felt impossible to produce big hits when needed.
These questions about their hitting will undoubtedly echo throughout the upcoming offseason.
Dino Dodgers
Throughout the season, the Dodgers brushed off worries about their lineup’s age. They even embraced the tongue-in-cheek “Dinosaur Dodgers” nickname during the playoffs.
But it’s hard not to see how their age eventually caught up with them.
Case in point: they didn’t hit a home run during the NLCS until Ohtani’s blast in Game 4, missing the consistent power that had helped them in past postseason performances.
Freddie Freeman, the second oldest player on the team at 37, acknowledged the concerns before Game 4, indicating that while they understood people’s opinions regarding their age, it didn’t mean they weren’t capable of performing well.
He pointed out that it simply felt like they weren’t playing great baseball, regardless of their experience or age.
