NEW YORK —
Typically, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts stated, all it takes one dangerous matchup, or one artful pitcher, for a hitter to “trigger bad habits” of their swing.
Within the case of Shohei Ohtani, and his struggles during the last a number of video games of the Dodgers’ postseason, the perpetrator seems to have been San Diego Padres starter Yu Darvish.
In six at-bats in opposition to Darvish throughout final week’s Nationwide League Division Sequence, Ohtani went hitless, hanging out 3 times whereas trying atypically mortal after his superhuman common season.
In Sport 5 of the NLDS, Ohtani appeared notably uncomfortable in opposition to Darvish within the field. He went down on strikes chasing a slider out of the zone. He hit a lazy pop-up on a cutter down the center. He struck out once more chasing a curveball off the plate.
Earlier than that sport, Ohtani was off to a good — although solely sometimes dominant — first profession postseason, amassing 4 hits and 4 RBIs over his first 4 video games.
Beginning with that 0-for-4 efficiency in Sport 5, nevertheless, Ohtani hasn’t regarded like himself.
He bashed one ball off the wall in Sport 1 of the NL Championship Sequence in opposition to the New York Mets. However his solely different hit over the previous three video games got here on a gradual curler Pete Alonso misinterpret at first base.
General, Ohtani is simply two for his final 12 with six strikeouts and just one RBI. On the entire this October, he additionally stays hitless when the bases have been empty, going 0 for 19 in such conditions in comparison with a six-for-eight mark when the pitcher had a runner to fret about.
Requested about all this Tuesday, throughout an off-day forward of the New York swing of the best-of-seven championship sequence, Roberts pointed again to Ohtani’s struggles in opposition to Darvish — and the dangerous habits, like chasing pitches out of the zone and failing to make use of the “big part of the field,” which have not-so-coincidentally adopted.
“I was surprised with [his at-bats against] Darvish,” Roberts stated. “I was surprised that he expanded [the strike zone] versus Darvish.”
And going into Sport 3 on Wednesday night time, Ohtani and the Dodgers are nonetheless making an attempt to rectify his slumping kind ever since, hoping the soon-to-be three-time MVP can enhance upon his .222 batting common and .677 OPS thus far this postseason.
“I think my feel isn’t bad,” Ohtani stated in Japanese. “Rather than make big changes, I [want to] continue the good points from the regular season.”
One factor that definitely isn’t altering for now’s Ohtani’s position because the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter.
“It’s just funny how things change,” Roberts stated, recalling early-season concern over Ohtani’s capability to hit with runners in scoring place; a break up by which Ohtani has thrived currently, going four-for-five in such spots within the playoffs.
“There was a lot of concern [early in the season] about Shohei not being able to get hits with the runners in scoring position,” Roberts added. “And now we’re all trying to find ways that — [we] have to get guys on base so he can hit, right? I kind of find that comical, a little bit.”
The tone of Roberts’ reply mirrored his unwavering confidence within the 30-year-old slugger.
In his eyes, the keys to Ohtani’s success are the identical as they’ve been all yr.
“He’s got to continue to manage his hitting zone, regardless of who’s pitching,” Roberts stated, noting that whereas Ohtani went quiet in opposition to Darvish, Padres left-handed reliever Tanner Scott (4 strikeouts within the NLDS) and Mets Sport 2 starter Sean Manaea (one other lefty that held him hitless in three at-bats), he has regarded advantageous in opposition to everybody else he’s confronted.
Mets veteran Luis Severino will provide a brand new take a look at in Sport 3.
Whereas discussing the matchups with Darvish on Tuesday, Ohtani famous that “there was a gap” between his recollections of going through Darvish prior to now, and the way in which his Japanese countryman attacked him within the NLDS.
These variations, Ohtani stated, resulted in foul balls on pitches he felt like he might have carried out harm.
“Right now, I think there’s more of that,” Ohtani stated. “My approach to swinging when the ball comes in the strike zone.”
Going through Severino might current an identical dynamic.
Whereas Ohtani is three-for-six with a house run and double in his profession in opposition to Severino, he has confronted him in only one sport since 2018, recording two hits in opposition to the pitchers final yr whereas Ohtani was with the Angels and Severino pitched for the Yankees.
Due to that, Ohtani stated he wished to “get a solid impression” of Severino in his first plate look Wednesday, one he might use for subsequent journeys to the plate.
After all, it might be good for the Dodgers if Ohtani snapped his empty-bases drought in that leadoff at-bat too — and began to regain his historic regular-season kind.
“My expectation,” Roberts stated, “is that he’s going to reset today, get to the big part of the field [tomorrow] and take some good at-bats off Severino.”
