Hernández: Dodgers could still win the World Series without Shohei Ohtani, but no one wants that

Suddenly the party stopped.

Shohei Ohtani lay on the ground writhing in pain after he was caught stealing second base in the seventh inning.

There was silence at Dodger Stadium.

When Dodgers coach Yosuke Nakajima reported to the scene, the Fox broadcast recorded their conversation in Japanese.

“It’s the shoulder,” Ohtani said.

“What?” Nakajima asked.

“Shoulder.”

“Which shoulder?”

“Left.”

“Has it come loose?” Nakajima asked.

“Probably,” Ohtani said.

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Manager Dave Roberts' initial diagnosis: a subluxation or partial dislocation of the left shoulder.

Considering the Dodgers have extended their World Series lead to two games to zero, they were relatively dismal after their 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Saturday night.

As encouraged as Roberts was about Ohtani's condition, there was a very real possibility that the Dodgers would have to play the rest of the series without baseball's best player.

“When you see him walk off the field with a trainer holding his arm, there's obviously some level of concern,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said.

Roberts admitted he would remain uncertain until Ohtani underwent an MRI scan. The best-of-seven series continues Monday at Yankee Stadium.

Regardless of what the test shows, the Dodgers should win this World Series.

Their starting pitching is comparable. Their bullpen is much better. Their lineup is also significantly better, even without Ohtani.

The Yankees' answer to Ohtani, Aaron Judge, might as well not play, as he's batting just .150 this postseason. In the first two games of the World Series, Judge is 1-for-9 with six strikeouts.

However, there is more at stake than just this series.

“Personally,” outfielder Teoscar Hernández said in Spanish, “I don’t want him to miss the last few games of the season.”

This is the year of Ohtani. He was the sport's biggest story at every stage of the season, from the Dodgers' season-opening series in South Korea to the moment he became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season.

Ohtani is more than the face of baseball. He is baseball.

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How bad would it be if he was just a spectator when the Dodgers won the World Series?

Hernández and the rest of the Dodgers know better than anyone what he put into this season, simultaneously rehabilitating his surgically repaired pitching elbow while preparing to put up the offensive numbers that should earn him third-most valuable player honors. Of course they don't want him to miss these games.

“Hopefully he can play,” Hernandez said.

Roberts was unwilling to acknowledge that Ohtani might not play again this postseason.

“I expect him to be in the lineup,” Roberts said.

But if Ohtani isn't, the Dodgers should have the firepower necessary to continue dominating the Yankees.

“We can definitely take care of business,” outfielder Mookie Betts said.

They survived a long stretch without Betts. They survived several periods without Freeman. They can get through a few games without Ohtani.

“They picked me up when I was down and we're going to try to do the same for him,” Freeman said.

They already have that. In the first two games of this World Series, Ohtani was 1-for-8. The Dodgers won both games.

Two minutes after her win Saturday night, Ohtani left the clubhouse. At his side stood a security guard, Nakajima, and the interpreter, Will Ireton. Ohtani held his belongings in his right hand and nothing in his left.

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“Could you hold these?” he asked Ireton.

Ohtani walked into an elevator, his role for the rest of this series still unclear.

He was supposed to win the World Series that he had envisioned as a high school superstar in the Japanese countryside. He should receive the championship ring that will strengthen his Hall of Fame credentials.

But this might not happen the way he or anyone else dreamed.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.