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ATLANTA — Usually, booze-soaked clubhouse celebrations are not the time to inquire about potential changes to the lineup.

But when one potential change might have to do with Shohei Ohtani — the Dodgers’ biggest star and most troublesome question mark so far this postseason — then an exception on Wednesday night was warranted.

Yes, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was indeed asked after the team’s Game 4 elimination of the Braves if they were considering benching the slumping slugger after his injury-plagued struggles continued in the National League Division Series.

And while, no, Friedman made clear such drastic measures aren’t on the table, the fact that speculation is even swirling only underscores the tenuous nature of Ohtani’s current situation.

“At some point, it’s going to click for him,” Friedman insisted. “And the other team’s going to be in big trouble when that happens.”

For now, that feels more like wishful thinking for the Dodgers and their $700 million conundrum.

In the NLDS, Ohtani still looked nothing like himself while continuing to play through right arm and left knee problems.

During the four games against the Braves, Ohtani went 2-for-13 with two walks, four strikeouts and a glaring lack of threatening at-bats. He was dropped to fifth in the batting order for Game 3, then moved only to the cleanup spot in the team’s series-clinching Game 4 triumph.

The 32-year-old made a positive impact on Wednesday, drawing a first-inning walk and then scoring after stealing second base and taking third on an errant throw.

After that, however, he struck out, grounded out and watched a fly ball die at the warning track. As a result, he finished the NLDS with a .154 average, second lowest among Dodgers regulars ahead of only Will Smith.

Now, two questions will linger as the Dodgers take their next step in this postseason:

Can Ohtani turn things around?

Can the team still win if he doesn’t?

The former seems much more difficult to answer, with repeated votes of confidence from team officials thus far having yet to materialize in consistent production from the four-time MVP.

After Game 3, manager Dave Roberts was adamant that Ohtani is “going to come to life — it will happen.” When asked the following afternoon what fueled such conviction, though, the answer felt more like a manifestation rather than clear and tangible signs of progress at the plate.

“The misses are better … because they’re to the big part of the field versus hitting a ball on the ground to the right side of the infield,” Roberts insisted. 

“I thought the intent to stay on the baseball was better than it was in Games 1 and 2. So that’s also encouraging,” he added.

But really, Roberts continued, his belief was based on his star hitter’s track record and penchant for catching fire even when it is least expected.

“I feel that just the talent, the care [that he has], it’s going to happen,” Roberts insisted.

Yet, when the skipper returned to the podium after Game 4, he — like Friedman — was back to answering questions about why it hasn’t happened yet.

“He’s scuffling right now, but I really believe that he’s going to come to life at some point,” Roberts reiterated.

What Roberts said next might be more important, especially with the Dodgers entertaining no plans to drop him from the lineup for now.

“It’s just good to know that we can still win a series when he’s not doing what we all know he can do,” Roberts said.

Given how out of sorts Ohtani continues to look, the two-time defending champions might have to do so again in their NLCS matchup with a stingy Brewers pitching staff.

One silver lining: Ohtani was similarly ineffective in last year’s NLDS against the Phillies, going a woeful 1-for-18 with nine strikeouts in that series, before turning around and winning NLCS MVP honors in the team’s sweep of the Brewers, a four-game rout that was capped off by his iconic three-homer, 10-strikeout masterclass in a pennant-clinching Game 4 victory.

But back then, Ohtani was fully healthy, coming off a career-high 55-homer campaign and at full strength as both a hitter and pitcher.

This version of Ohtani offers no such hope of a similar turnaround. He hasn’t hit a home run since Aug. 18. He has just one RBI since then, as well, with his 15-day stint on the injured list in September having failed to rectify his physically diminished swing.

It means, moving forward, the Dodgers will need the rest of their lineup to keep picking up the slack.

They did so in the NLDS, when Max Muncy and Freddie Freeman combined for five home runs, Teoscar Hernández and Kiké Hernández delivered more clutch postseason moments, and almost everyone else from Mookie Betts to Andy Pages took competitive at-bats that kept opposing pitchers under stress.

Whether the team can continue to replicate that recipe might determine its fate in a bid for a third straight World Series title.

Because right now, despite the Dodgers’ adamant claims that Ohtani will eventually rebound this October, he looks incapable of being anything more than a complementary piece of their offense.

Despite what fans intially thought, Ronald Acuña Jr. denied taking a shot at his former Braves manager, Brian Snitker on his podcast “La Bestia” this week.

During Monday’s episode of the podcast with Brewers stars William Contreras and Jackson Chourio, the former asked Acuña in Spanish about the Braves’ coaches and seemed to point to how things have been in the first season without Snitker — though the catcher didn’t name the manager.

“All good bro. They didn’t bother me again. You know that c–ksucker thought he was the king,” Acuña responded as reported by Phillip Feliz, a known Spanish-to-English athlete translator on X.

On Wednesday night after the Braves were eliminated by the Dodgers in the NLDS, the outfielder told The Athletic he did not take a swipe at Snitker in that moment. He declined to name the coach he was speaking about.

“I’m not going to violate that code,” he said via an interpreter. “We were just talking about the past, even things all the way back to the minor leagues.”

Before Acuña finished his next sentence on the podcast, Contreras began to say, “El gerente,” a term that means “manager” in Spanish, but it’s specifically used for a general manager rather than the skipper of a team.

The interpretation led to intense speculation that Acuña’s comment was directed at Snitker. Many questioned Feliz’s translation and went after him online.

Feliz later posted a video defending his translation of the podcast clip, insinuating the Braves questioned him directly.

“I want to make something clear. My job on social media is not to care for any MLB team’s reputation. Want me to care for your reputation? Hire me. Any MLB team, hire me. Reach out to me,” Feliz said on Tuesday morning in a video on X. “If I do that willingly on the timeline, I chose to. It’s not because I’m getting paid to. If you want to question my translations when you don’t even speak the language, you’re a fool.

“You want to question my work on X and question whether I’m a Dodgers spy playing 3D chess because I decided to drop this clip ahead of Game 3 against the Dodgers? You know what’s far more interesting? The fact that Ronald Acuña Jr. himself decided to drop this episode on their off day. Look it up. Their podcast, ‘La Bestia,’ dropped less than 24 hours ago. It wasn’t I fetching for clips to drop, he handed me the clip. As far as me trying to tarnish the Braves’ reputation, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret: I’m rooting for the Braves this series. F–k the Dodgers.

“If you want to question my work on X when my posts get global reach, I need to ensure I’m posting with accuracy. If you believe heart to heart that Ronald Acuña Jr. wasn’t talking about Brian Snitker, go watch the interview [and] come back to me. Go watch the extended clip that I posted [and] come back to me.”

Acuña and Snitker, who held the manager role in Atlanta from 2017-25, had some friction throughout their lengthy time together that included six division titles and a World Series in 2021.

On Aug. 18, 2019 when a 21-year-old Acuña hit a ball to the right field wall against the Dodgers, he didn’t run hard out of the batter’s box and it only resulted in a single.

A frustrated Snitker pulled him from the game.

Similarly in 2025, Jarred Kelenic admired a long ball and was thrown out at second base for trying to stretch the hit against the Twins. When asked if Snitker talked to Kelenic about the decision, he said “Was I supposed to?”

Acuña, 28, who was rehabbing a torn ACL at the time, took to X to comment on the situation in a since-deleted post.

He wrote: “If it were me, they would take me out of the game.”

He later apologized to the manager and his teammates, deeming it a “moment of frustration.”

Following the 2025 season in which the Braves missed the playoffs, Snitker stepped down and moved on to hold a senior advisory role within the organization. Walt Weiss, Snitker’s longtime bench coach, replaced him and tried to push the team past the Dodgers in the NLDS.

Acuña had a quiet postseason, going 3-for-24 through seven games with no home runs nor RBIs. He had an OPS of .425.

It follows a regular season in which he hit .255 with 20 home runs and 55 RBIs across 107 games.

He has not hit a home run in the postseason since the 2020 NLDS against the Marlins. Acuña did not play in the 2021 World Series due to a torn ACL.

Acuña premiered his podcast last month and he has since hosted his father, his cousin and WBC teammate Royals’ Maikel Garcia, and mentalist Michel Gallero on the show.

Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2026. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.

No. 47, Kyle Freeland (-0.4 rWAR)

We’ve all heard the cliches.

“Denver native.”

“Went to Thomas Jefferson High School.”

“Grew up 15 minutes from Coors Field.”

“The hometown kid.”

Heck, we’ve heard these so many times that we made an entire bingo card out of them!

But 2026 marked what could be the last time we hear those phrases uttered on the Colorado Rockies home broadcast about Kyle Freeland.

Since he was drafted eighth-overall in the 2014 MLB Draft, Freeland has spent his entire career with the Rockies. He’s had some highs – such as his near-no-hitter in 2018 – and plenty of lows. And 2026 unfortunately marked a low for the left-hander, who not only finished with career worsts in a number of categories, but also finished with a negative rWAR for the first time since 2019.

Freeland was tagged for a career-high 104 runs (100 earned), and his 29 home runs allowed tied a career worst (also 2023). His 6.65 ERA is a career high, and his 75 ERA+ is also a career low, while his 1.522 WHIP is second only behind his 1.581 in 2019. Finally, his 3.72 SO/BB ratio was the highest of his career.

But Freeland also hit numerous milestones in 2026:

• On March 27th against the Miami Marlins, he made his fifth Opening Day start – the most Opening Day starts in franchise history. He also became the first pitcher in franchise history to make three consecutive Opening Day starts.
• On June 1st against the Los Angeles Angels, he passed Jorge De La Rosa (985) for the second-most strikeouts in club history. 
• On June 7th against the Milwaukee Brewers, he set the franchise record in innings pitched, surpassing Aaron Cook (1,312.1)
• On June 19th against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he struck out his 1,000th career batter, becoming the second Rockie to achieve the feat behind Germán Márquez (1,069).
• On August 2nd against the Kansas City Royals, he threw his first-career complete game.
• On September 27th against the Chicago White Sox, he started Game 162 for the second time in his career (also 2017), becoming the fourth Rockies starter to start game No.1 and No. 162 in the same season.

On top of his on-field struggles, Freeland’s season was also muddied by injuries. He spent two separate stints on the injured list – April 15-28 with left shoulder inflammation (retroactive to April 13) and August 24-September 15 with cervical radiculopathy. 

Ahead of his first IL stint, Freeland was pitching well. In three starts, he’d posted a 1-1 record with a 2.30 ERA across 15.2 innings. He hadn’t allowed more than two runs in any of the three starts.

But when he returned, the wheels fell off.

In his first start back against the Cincinnati Reds, he allowed four runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Two of the runs came off a Spencer Steer home run in the first inning. In each of his first four starts after coming off the IL, he allowed four or more runs while only pitching five complete innings twice in that span. 

May was Freeland’s worst month when he posted a 12.46 ERA across 21.2 innings (five starts). He struggled through June and July, but really hit his stride again in August, posting a 2.52 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in four starts. He allowed four runs on six hits with the two homers on August 19th, but then was placed on the IL again.

In his final three starts, Freeland went 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA across 11 innings to likely end his career in Purple Pinstripes.

It’s unclear at this time what the future holds for the five-time Roberto Clemente Award nominee, as his contract expired at the end of the 2026 season.

But regardless, I will always be a Kyle Freeland Fan.

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Another October thud, naturally, leads to winter questions, some quite thorny. Where do the Yankees go from here, apart from taking some time to process the ache of getting swept by the Rays in the ALDS? 

That’s consecutive ALDS exits against AL East rivals that were better than the Yanks during the regular season now, so the team must get better. How does that happen? There are important free agents looming, like closer David Bednar, so big decisions must be made. All those will come as the sport sorts through negotiations for a new labor agreement, which will have an as-yet unknown impact on the game’s economics.

Here are five Yankees storylines to follow during the offseason... 

Will Aaron Boone be back? 

The outside debate over whether the Yanks need a new dugout voice rages with every end of season loss (and often long before). Perhaps a culture jolt would be just the thing. But fans’ ire does not fire or hire when it comes to the Yankee manager, so Boone seems likely to stick. 

He’s got one year left on his deal. A likely lockout would give a new manager little time to get set and get to know players. Big-name stars such as Aaron Judge and Cam Schlittler backed Boone after the Game 3 loss. 

There’s also an easy way for the Yankees to talk themselves into letting Boone proceed -- Judge, probably the best hitter in the world, played only 66 games, none in the postseason. Other stars missed significant time, too. In a season of tribulation, the Yankees weren’t good enough, but they still won 93 games and beat Boston in the Wild Card Series. Boone has missed the playoffs once in nine years guiding the Yanks.

What does Aaron Judge’s "all-in" look like?

Judge urged the Yanks to go "all-in" and "go out there and get it" to fill whatever holes the team has going forward. How does that happen, especially in a generally-thin free agent market? The Yankees have some well-regarded young big leaguers who helped them get to the playoffs. 

Do they get creative on the trade market with them and their prospects? Or do they trade peanuts for some team’s bad contract and hope they snag a player who is re-energized in the Bronx? They’d better do something, especially with a lineup that flagged during the season and then produced, well, that October. 

It’s one thing to say that good pitching beats good hitting in the October cauldron, but the Yankees were dreadful on offense against the Rays, batting .130 with a .431 OPS. Even with the team missing Judge, they can’t be that awful. Without Ben Rice, would they have even scored at all? (We’re exaggerating, he only drove in three of the Yanks five runs in the series, but still).

There’s no wiggle room at designated hitter. Rice and Judge, who turns 35 in April, require at-bats there. Giancarlo Stanton has no position other than DH. Maybe they could steal from the Rays playbook and add players with big-time ball-in-play skills to diversify? 

Second thoughts

Jazz Chisholm Jr. is a free agent and Anthony Volpe revitalized his career after being sent to Triple-A and returning with vigor. Perhaps Chisholm out, Volpe in is the easiest way to solve second base. 

It’s pretty unlikely Chisholm returns -- he did not live up to his big talent in his walk year, heard boos at Yankee Stadium, and was so un-vital to the Yankee cause that Boone didn't start him in Game 3 against a righty. 

The Yanks could make him a qualifying offer and get a draft pick when he signs elsewhere. But they’d have to be OK with him returning. He could just grab the $23-plus million and try to reset his free agency with a bigger season on what figures to be a good Yankee team in ‘27. 

Finally, the Yanks’ biggest deadline deal brought them Luis García Jr., a thunderous lefty bat. He played only first base for the Yankees and Nationals this season, but spent the previous three seasons as Washington’s second baseman. He’s played second, but can he play second? Especially for a club that just embarrassed itself defensively this postseason?

Pen notes

The Yanks have done a remarkable job discovering and developing useful relievers for years, but that doesn’t mean they should overthink closer this winter. Bednar is a free agent. The Yankees should re-sign him. He recorded 35 saves and a 2.47 ERA in 64 games during the regular season and added three scoreless postseason innings. 

He’s proven he can handle the New York market, and his entrance song -- "Renegade" by Styx -- sounds cool. 

Beyond Bednar, Paul Blackburn is another key bullpen free agent and he’s coming off an insane platform year -- a 1.69 ERA in 62 games and one hit allowed over six shutout innings in the playoffs. He’s a keeper, too.

Get defensive

We’ll stop short of using the term "run prevention" for obvious reasons, but the Yanks have had two high-profile defensive meltdowns in the postseason in the last three seasons and need to fix their defense. A few Dodgers chirped them after the Game 5 debacle in the 2024 World Series, but that wasn’t humiliating enough to prevent the Yankees from bungling Game 2 against the Rays with another torrent of miscues. 

Another early October exit is, sadly for them, becoming familiar territory. But a near-annual blooper-fest in the playoffs can’t be on repeat, too. If it takes new defensive protocols, more infield practice during the season, more accountability or better defenders, it must stop. 

Angel Martinez has had a horrific 2026 ALDS so far… he should still start in left field tonight.

First, let’s stare at the bleak numbers right in the face. Martinez is 0 for 12 with 7 strikeouts. He is chasing everything and whiffing at everything. He has gone 0 for 4 with runners on base and stranded eight baserunners, including three who were on third base. In positive news, he has been solid in left field and ran a mile to catch a pop-up that Brayan Rocchio and Jose Ramirez lost in the lights in Monday’s games. …But, his -100 wRC+ feels about right… he is a clear negative in terms of helping the Guardians win a baseball game at the moment.

So, why shouldn’t Stephen Vogt make a switch today? Maybe put Adell in right, DeLauter in left and let Nate Lowe DH and David Fry play first base, or vice versa? Maybe make Travis Bazzana DH and get Angel Genao a start at second base?

The reason is because Angel Martinez was one of the hottest hitters in baseball August-September with a 152 wRC+ and a .310/.346/.510 slashline. He is more than capable of getting back on track and the way to do so is pretty simple… I am sure every coach and player around him is saying “Just stay patient enough to make them throw you a strike. Force the pitcher to get the ball in the zone and jump on it.” If Angel can take even one walk or get to even one full-count early in the game, he will give himself the potential to unleash his power on this series.

The options behind Martinez are a big part of why he should continue to start. While I thought it might be nice to give him a chance to enter the game off the bench and start Daniel Schneemann yesterday, neither Schneemann, nor Petey Halpin, nor Angel Genao, nor David Fry are offensive threats of particular note. Genao showed some good contact ability yesterday… Martinez has contact ability if he can just lay off a few non-competitive pitches. Fry’s year-long struggles are well-known, Halpin is defense and speed only, and Daniel Schneemann has a career wRC+ under 80. The time to have added another bopper is passed. Martinez gives the team their best chance of impacting the ball with some authority in his role and should get another chance tonight.

Now, if we are sitting here Friday having somehow won the game, and Martinez is now 0 for 16 with 10 strikeouts… I think then it is time to recognize he’s not pulling out of it with the weight of the playoffs sitting firmly on his shoulders and a breather is probably best. Of course, there is no tomorrow. The Guardians have to win today or they are done. So, it’s a risk to continue to start Martinez… but I don’t think there is a preferable risk to exchange his volatility to pursue.

Angel, you’ve got this. You’ve done it all season long. You’ve seen all these pitchers a dozen times. Take a deep breath and remember it’s not all on you. Spit on some bad pitches and pounce on the first thing you see in the zone and you can redeem every bad game that’s happened before like they never existed. We believe in you.

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Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got ourselves a rematch.

Just like last year, Shohei Ohtani’s Los Angeles Dodgers and Christian Yelich’s Milwaukee Brewers are meeting in the NLCS.

And, once again, Pat Murphy’s club has home-field advantage. Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 will be at American Family Field in Milwaukee, WI.

Not everything about this Series is the same, though.

“I think ​it is different this year. … We’re going in to beat them,” Murphy told Fox Sports, referring to his team getting swept in 2025. “We earned it in the ​regular season to get home-field advantage. We’re going in to beat them, we don’t care who they have.”

If you’d like to be there to see if the Brew Crew really have what it takes to dethrone the defending World Series champion Dodgers, tickets are available for all four hypothetical contests in the Cream City.

At the time of publication, the lowest price we could find on seats for any one game in Milwaukee was $224 including fees on Vivid Seats.

Prices start at $144 including fees for fans hoping to attend a showdown at Dodger Stadium.

Ahead of the NLCS, Milwaukee battled with San Diego in a tense, back-and-forth four-game NLDS that saw instantly iconic moments like a clutch Jackson Chourio catch in Game 1, a Jackson Chourio walk-off single in Game 2 and Garrett Mitchell robbing Manny Machado of a home run in Game 4.

As for the Dodgers, the club continued their winning ways in the postseason [Editor’s Note: They haven’t lost a playoff series since the Diamondbacks beat them in the 2023 NLDS] and beat up on the formidable Braves.

Kiké Hernández smashed a home run — the 17th postseason dinger of his career, putting him ahead of Babe Ruth (!) on the all-time list — in the decisive fourth game and stellar offensive performances from Andy Pages and Max Muncy.

We can’t wait to see what comes next.

For more information, our team has everything you need to know and more about the Dodgers vs. Brewers 2026 NLCS below.

What do the cheapest tickets cost for NLCS games in Milwaukee?

A complete breakdown of all the best prices on tickets for every hypothetical game at Milwaukee’s American Family Field can be found here:

How much are the cheapest tickets for NLCS games in Los Angeles?

All of the cheapest potential Dodgers NLCS home game ticket prices are listed below.

How can I watch the Dodgers vs. Brewers 2026 NLCS?

For fans who prefer to watch on the tube, you can catch this nervy series on FOX and FS1.

Both providers listed above can be found on the one-stop shop known as DIRECTV.

Huge 2026-27 concerts

Fans hoping to get a concert or three in this year too are in luck.

After a bit of digging, we found that many of the biggest names in music will be on the road this year and next.

Here are just five of the biggest acts and artists we can’t wait to see live in the near future.

• Aerosmith

• Stevie Wonder

• RUSH

• Robert Plant

• Def Leppard with Goo Goo Dolls

Who else is out and about? Take a look at this list of all the biggest rockers on tour in 2026 to find the show for you.

Why you should trust ‘Post Wanted’ by the New York Post

This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.