It seems that the epic 18-inning, 6-hour, and 39-minute marathon absorbed all the juice from the Dodgers’ lineup. Since their historic Game 3 victory, powered by Shohei Ohtani and a Freddie Freeman walk-off, the two games that followed, the Toronto Blue Jays simply hijacked the series, winning back-to-back 6-2 and 6-1. And now, the defending champions, who hope to repeat as champions for the first time this century, are on the brink as they face do-or-die Game 6 and Game 7, if needed, in Toronto’s hostile environment.

This dire situation has forced the team to adopt an all-hands-on-deck mentality. Baseball columnist Bob Nightengale tweeted, “Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave everyone on his team the option of working out tonight or taking the day off: Every player showed up at Rogers Center for the workout,” capturing the team’s current focus and mood.

That even includes considering a truly radical plan where Roberts is willing to break convention to survive. Nightengale revealed tweeting, “Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says everything is on the table for Shohei Ohtani…including being a closer, an opener, playing the OF, everything.”

But the conversation about Ohtani playing the outfield is not brand new. The idea first surfaced back in September. Why? The Dodgers’ bullpen was struggling badly even then.

And the problem was the “Ohtani Rule,” which allows a starting pitcher to remain in the game as the designated hitter. But it does not work the other way. Suppose if Ohtani starts as DH and then enters to pitch back in the relief, the Dodgers will lose his bat for the rest of the game at the very moment when Shohei is done pitching.

The only way to keep his bat in the lineup, Ohtani has to play a defensive position. He actually suggested this solution himself months ago, saying he was having “various conversations.” Ohtani said, “As a player, if I’m told to go somewhere, I want to be prepared to do so. That’s on the mound and perhaps even in the outfield.”

At that time, Dave Roberts praised Ohtani’s team-first attitude but quickly dismissed the idea. “I don’t know if it’s a pipe dream… He hasn’t taken a fly ball all year,” Roberts said then.

My, how the pressure of the World Series changes things. What was once a “pipe dream” has now become a possible solution to save their season.

But before anyone claims Ohtani can’t handle it, they should check his history

To say Ohtani would not be “okay with it” is to ignore a player who lives for these moments.  We have seen him do this exact job on the world’s biggest stage when he famously came out of the bullpen to close the 2023 World Baseball Classic final and struck out his then teammate, mighty Mike Trout, to win the championship for Japan.

He also has experience and muscle memory from his time in Japan, where he pitched in relief for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and played 62 games in the outfield there, and most recently with the Los Angeles Angels.

And after seeing him hit three home runs and strike out 10 Brewers in the same game in the NLCS Game 4, and reaching the bases record nine times with four extra-base hits and four intentional walks, we only have one option to choose. He can do anything..

Still, one cannot ignore that Shohei Ohtani is human. Adding more duties to all he is already doing could hurt his performance at the plate, as it already did before in this postseason.

Before his NLCS explosion, Ohtani was in a massive slump and went just 1-for-18 in the entire NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies. And more recently, after his Game 3 high, he went 0-for-7 in the losses in Games 4 and 5. So, we can’t ignore that risk as well.

So, this is it. The Dodgers’ season now rests on Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s arm in Game 6, and his complete-game gem in Game 2 is their only hope.

But if the relentless Blue Jays find out any hole as they did in the cases of Blake Snell twice in the World Series and Max Fried in the ALCS, and they get to Yamamoto early, the “Ohtani in relief” is the only possibility that can save the Dodgers’ season.