When Shohei Ohtani asked about his dismal performance at the plate in DodgersNational League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies last week, he gave credit to the opposition for the first time.
Then, after a series in which the Phillies faced him with one left-handed pitcher after another, he was also quick to point out that he was not alone.
“It was pretty difficult for left-handed hitters,” Ohtani said in Japanese during a celebration in the Dodgers clubhouse after their victory in game four. “It was the same with Freddie. [Freeman]”
The Phillies really made life difficult for the Dodgers' best lefty bats.
Freeman hit just three of his 15 hits in the series, albeit with a key double in game two and a .294 on-base percentage.
Max Muncy was four for nine in the Series, but spent most of the time waiting on the bench, not getting a start in any of the three contests in which the Phillies had a left-hander on the mound.
And as a team, the Dodgers hit just .199 with 41 strikeouts in the four-game series.
But no one's problems were as pronounced as Ohtani's, a future four-time MVP who looked anything but the same in the NLDS.
Ohtani struck out in each of his first four at-bats in Game 1. He didn't get his first hit until he grounded an RBI single through the infield in the seventh inning of Game 2.
The only time Ohtani reached base safely after that was when the Phillies intentionally walked him in the seventh inning of Game 4.
His latest stat of the series: One for 18, nine strikeouts and a lot of questions about what went wrong.
Ohtani, who came out of the round with three hits and two homers, admitted Thursday night that “there were at-bats that didn't go the way I thought they would.”
But he quickly added: “The opposing pitchers didn't make a lot of mistakes. They pitched great, in a way that's worthy of the postseason. There were a lot of games like that for both teams.”
The real question that came up in the series was about the root cause of Ohtani's unexpected problems.
Was it simply due to tough pitching matchups, as he faced lefties in 12 of his 20 trips to the plate? Or did his hesitant approach raise more valid concerns that could jeopardize his continued participation in the NL Championship Series?
“I think a lot of it had to do with the left-handed serve,” manager Dave Roberts said Saturday as the Dodgers expected to face the Chicago Cubs or Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS, which begins Monday.
However, the manager also held himself accountable. his $700 million superstar be better.
“Hopefully he can reflect on this series a little bit and realize how aggressive he was outside the strike zone and passive in it,” Roberts said. “The quality of the game must improve.”
For the Dodgers, the implications are clear.
“We're not going to win the World Series with a game like this,” Roberts continued. “So we look forward to recalibrating and getting back into the impact zone.”
From the very first pitch in Game 1 – when he was also the starting pitcher in his first career playoff game as a two-way player – Ohtani struggled to make good decisions.
He drove three pitches to the inside of the plate from Phillies left-hander Christopher Sanchez, who Roberts felt “kind of set the tone” for his struggles throughout the series, and then took a called third strike the next two times he faced him.
From that point on, the 31-year-old slugger seemed never to be able to return to his approach.
He lost again in Game 1 against left-handed pitcher Matt Strahm. He started the second game with another strikeout against fellow lefty Jesus Luzardo. It went on and on, with Ohtani continuing to chase inside junk, hit pitches that were flying off the plate the other way, and found his only reprieve in a rematch with Strahm in Game 2 when he got just enough on an inside sinker.
Roberts hoped Ohtani would be able to learn and adapt as he moved forward.
“Understanding when he faces a left-handed pitch what they're going to try to do: push him in, away, turn him around,” Roberts said. “He's just got to manage the strike zone better. I'm counting on it. We're all counting on it.”
Roberts also admitted that Ohtani's shots the day he pitched in Game 1 seemed particularly rushed.
“[When] he's pitching, he's probably trying to conserve energy rather than trying to hit the bat,” Roberts said. “When he pitches, it’s not very good. I think that's part of it. We need to think things through and come up with the best game plan.”
At the end of the day, while Ohtani may not have been the only forward in the NLDS, he was more important to the lineup than anyone. The Dodgers can survive without him for a very long time.
