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 Atlanta 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 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 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 their 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.