Two games out of the 2024 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves in a strange space between undeniable good vibes and cautious optimism.

The good news? They have a 2-0 lead over the New York Yankees after holding on for a 4-2 win in Game 2 on Saturday.

The bad news? Shohei Ohtani has an injured left shoulder.

The soon-to-be three-time MVP tried to show off his wheels after drawing a walk against Clay Holmes in the seventh inning, but being thrown out by Austin Wells instantly became a side story as soon as Ohtani started to wince in pain:

On ESPN Alden GonzalezDodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Game 2 that Ohtani suffered a dislocated left shoulder. His strength and range of motion are good.

“We’re encouraged,” Roberts said.

In other words, it could be worse.

As of now at least, there would appear to be a chance for Ohtani to return to his usual positions at designated hitter and at the top of the Dodgers lineup. And if they do, them finishing with their first regular season championship since 1988 will be that much more likely.

For their part, the Yankees would no doubt happily trade places with the Dodgers. If you have a choice between a 2-0 lead plus an injured Ohtani and an 0-2 hole plus a collapsing Aaron Judge, you take Door No. 1.

The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani problem isn’t terminal

To say the Dodgers don’t need Ohtani would be to try to fool everyone, only to end up fooling no one.

He’s a two-time MVP who started out as a 50-50 rental in the club, and his inventory of hits this postseason includes some of the biggest the Dodgers have gotten. Damn him he just had one in game 1.

It’s clear, though, that the Dodgers can win without Ohtani at the helm.

His eighth-inning double on Friday is the only hit he has produced in eight World Series at-bats, but the Dodgers outscored the Yankees 10-5.

Even before that point, the Dodgers had cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs despite Ohtani’s only part-time stardom. He was 8-for-13 with two home runs with runners on base, but otherwise went 4-for-29 with the bases empty.

Step back and look at the big picture, and what you’ll see is a lineup that still has two MVPs in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, plus a couple of guys with 30-homer power (Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy) and what appears to be a revolving door of candidates to deliver clutch hits at any moment.

Betts had his turn in the spotlight as he posted a 1.063 OPS through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Now it’s Freeman’s turn.

He spent the first two rounds of the playoffs biding his time as the main star whose injury did not hold the Dodgers back. His right ankle now seems to be doing much better as he followed his own Departure Grand Slam in Game 1 with a solo homer in Game 2.

They were also going yard in Game 2 Hernández and Tommy Edman. You’d expect as much from a Home Run Derby winner as the former, while the latter is now a .429 hitter since Game 1 of the NLCS.

It’s too easy to keep handing out gold stars. Max Muncy had a record strip on the base earlier in the postseason. Enrique Hernández has as many postseason homers as Babe Ruth and had a huge triple in the Game 1. Will Smith had a homer in Game 6 of the NLCS that effectively put the game out of reach.

However, as much as offensive depth alone explains how the Dodgers won the first two games of this series, they also changed the narrative on the pitching side.

The Yankees should have had the starting pitching advantage, but Jack Flaherty stuck with Gerrit Cole in Game 1 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto simply walked Carlos Rodón in Game 2. The only hit allowed was a homer by Juan Soto, because otherwise he made four and walked two.

The Dodgers’ apparent prowess in relief pitching is otherwise maintained.

Their bullpen has a 2.45 ERA for the series, while the relative shallowness of New York’s pen was on full display when Aaron Boone thought it wise to call up Nestor Cortes to face Freeman with the game on the line in Game 1.

The Yankees’ Aaron Judge problem may be terminal

It feels like deleting Soto to narrow the Yankees’ 2024 regular season down to a simple formula, but I’ll do it anyway.

When Judge hit, they won. When they didn’t, it was practically 50-50.

This is almost literally true when viewed through a home run lens. The Yankees went 39-14 on days Judge went deep this season. On the days he didn’t, they went 55-54.

As such, these splits are an unmistakable, capitalized PROBLEM for the Yankees:

• Regular season: 58 HR, 144 RBI, .322 AVG, .458 OBP, .701 SLG
• Postseason: 2 HR, 6 RBI, .150 AVG, .280 OBP, .325 SLG

The 6’7″, 282-pound Judge was notably a non-factor in the World Series, producing just one hit with six hits in nine at-bats. Worst of all, he ducked out on the pond in the ninth .innings in both Game 1 and Game 2.

The judge himself knows what to do, which is simply to make better swings: