Shohei Ohtani wore the identical masks of calm that he at all times wears.
He spoke with detachment, as he usually does.
By the point Ohtani walked into the interview room at Dodger Stadium after his group’s 6-2 defeat in Sport 4 of the World Collection, nonetheless, he was already devising his redemption.
“Of course, I’d like to prepare to be available for every game in case I’m needed,” Ohtani mentioned in Japanese.
Ohtani needs to pitch once more on this World Collection.
He needs to pitch once more, even after he was saddled with the loss on Tuesday night time by the Toronto Blue Jays.
He needs to pitch once more, even after the bodily calls for of reaching base 9 occasions in an 18-inning victory the earlier night time clearly diminished him on the mound.
If Ohtani pitches, he would virtually definitely pitch in aid.
Pitching in center aid doesn’t make sense for Ohtani, contemplating that when he departs the sport as a pitcher, guidelines would require the Dodgers to play him within the outfield or lose him as a hitter for the rest of the sport.
They could as nicely use him as a more in-depth, they usually may as nicely use him in a World Collection clincher, both in Sport 6 or 7.
That is who Ohtani is. That is what he does.
He gained’t let the frustration of his World Collection pitching debut scare him away from pursuing one other dream. He isn’t afraid of failure.
Sport 4 was a failure.
The six-hour 39-minute sport the Dodgers performed the night time earlier than provided Ohtani cowl. He reached base a file 9 occasions. He homered twice and doubled twice. His leg cramped in some unspecified time in the future. He went to sleep at 2 a.m.
However Ohtani didn’t take any of the justifications that have been provided to him.
“I have no plans of saying the game yesterday was this or that,” he mentioned.
The reality was revealed in his play.
Ohtani seemed exhausted. He sweated profusely and seemed as if he could be dehydrated. He seemed, nicely, human.
His fastball uncharacteristically by no means touched 100 mph, however he pitched nicely for probably the most half. His solely notable mistake was an elevated sweeper he threw within the third inning to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that was deposited over the left-field wall for a two-run residence run.
Ohtani struck out the aspect within the fourth inning, in addition to the primary batter he confronted within the fifth. Supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned that pitching coach Mark Prior approached Ohtani within the sixth innings and requested him how a lot he had left.
“He said he had three more innings,” Roberts mentioned.
Ohtani couldn’t make it out of the seventh inning. The truth is, he couldn’t even file an out within the seventh, beginning the inning by giving up a single to Daulton Varsho and a double to Ernie Clement. With Ohtani clearly gassed, Roberts known as in Anthony Banda, who allowed the 2 inherited runners to attain.
Ohtani’s remaining line: Six innings, 4 runs, six hits, a stroll and 6 strikeouts.
He mentioned his aim was to pitch seven innings.
Ohtani didn’t have the sport he wished within the batter’s field, both. It didn’t assist that he didn’t have any type of lineup safety. No. 9 hitter Andy Pages, who batted in entrance of him, was 0 for two and is now batting .080 this postseason. Mookie Betts, who batted behind him, was hitless till the eighth inning when the sport was already out of attain. Betts is batting .158 on this World Collection.
Ohtani walked within the first inning however was hitless within the three at-bats that adopted. Not one of many 14 pitches he noticed from Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber was close to the center quadrant of the plate.
Being a beginning pitcher and leadoff hitter in the identical sport was laborious sufficient. Being a beginning pitcher and a leadoff hitter in the identical sport after an 18-inning battle was revealed to be downright unattainable. As a result of if Ohtani couldn’t do it, no person may.
As a substitute of moping over the setback, Ohtani has began eyeing his subsequent boundary-pushing maneuver: To be a leadoff hitter and high-leverage reliever in the identical sport.
The World Collection is now tied, two video games apiece. The fixation Ohtani has with discovering new strategies to win video games could possibly be why the Dodgers end as champions once more.
