Shohei Ohtani was observing his telephone after I approached him in entrance of his locker within the wake of the Dodgers’ 7-3 defeat to the New York Mets on Monday in Sport 2 of the Nationwide League Championship Sequence.
He glanced up.
We had been alone, as the opposite reporters had been in different components of the clubhouse interviewing different gamers.
I figured readers of this publication would need to hear from their star after he was shut down in a defeat that leveled the best-of-seven collection at one sport apiece, however Oh-fer-tani was reluctant to talk.
“I don’t know what the other media will think,” he stated in Japanese.
“It’s fine,” I assured him.
Ohtani known as over one of many staff’s public relations managers, as if to ask him for permission to be interviewed. The official knowledgeable me that Ohtani wouldn’t be speaking.
I stated to Ohtani that I wish to hear that straight from him. Just like every other participant, Ohtani has the appropriate to say no a postgame interview. Simply because he doesn’t need to look uncooperative, he shouldn’t be passing that burden to a staff official who in actuality has no management over what he says or does.
Ohtani shrugged. He flashed that boyish smile that has made him probably the most endeared athlete on this market. He didn’t say something and walked away.
Effectively, I suppose that’s higher than him doing a Lincoln Riley and saying defensively, “There ain’t nobody taking more responsibility than I am,” however Ohtani certain made himself look coddled, didn’t he?
I’ve typically kept away from talking to Ohtani outdoors of team-organized scrums, however Ohtani’s three at-bats towards Mets starter Sean Manaea had been arguably his three worst of your entire postseason:
A strikeout swinging within the first inning.
One other strikeout within the third, this one wanting and on three pitches.
A weak pop-up to first base within the fifth.
It’s one factor to look confused towards San Diego Padres starter Yu Davish, as Ohtani did within the NL Division Sequence. It’s one other to be overpowered by Padres left-hander Tanner Scott, towards whom Ohtani was 0 for 4 within the NLDS. It’s a wholly totally different factor to look fully helpless towards Manaea, who doesn’t have Darvish’s number of pitches or Scott’s high-90s fastball.
Ohtani appeared to by no means mentally get well from taking a few Manaea’s sweepers in his first at-bat. He began in search of the pitch in his second at-bat, which might be why he struck out on three pitches, all of them hittable fastballs. By his third at-bat, Ohtani was determined simply to make contact and popped up a second-pitch sweeper to first base.
“I thought he didn’t look comfortable versus Manaea,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts stated.
Manaea departed from the sport within the sixth inning, however the Mets continued to neutralize Ohtani by not pitching to him. Ohtani was walked within the seventh inning and once more within the ninth.
Along with his three hitless at-bats, Ohtani is now 0 for 19 within the playoffs with the bases empty. He’s six for eight with a runner or extra on. General, he’s batting .222 within the postseason.
Shohei Ohtani heads to first base after drawing a stroll within the seventh inning of Sport 2 of the NLCS on Monday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Occasions)
In Ohtani’s protection, pitchers are below much less stress to throw strikes when there isn’t any visitors on the bases. The opposing protection traces up in another way too.
The numbers are the numbers, nevertheless, and Ohtani’s are unacceptable for a leadoff hitter. The function requires him to succeed in base.
Nonetheless, Roberts stated he wasn’t considering of shifting Ohtani down the order.
“I just don’t want to be too reactive,” Roberts stated. “I just don’t see the benefit. We’ve got to just make sure that our guys are just swinging the bat well. And quite frankly, I want Shohei to get five at-bats a game. I think he’s our best hitter.”
Ohtani has to start out enjoying prefer it once more. He doesn’t essentially should hit for the Dodgers to win, however they’re definitely extra more likely to win when he hits. The Dodgers have gained 4 video games this postseason, and Ohtani has pushed in runs in three of them.
The collection will transfer from Dodger Stadium to Citi Area in New York for the subsequent three video games. The Mets will begin a right-hander in Sport 3 in Luis Severino, and that alone may once more make Ohtani as harmful as he was in Sport 1 when he was two for 4 with two runs scored and one other batted in.
Then once more, if the Dodgers are to win the World Sequence, Ohtani sooner or later might need to hit a so-called Ohtani Stopper. He might need to succeed in base, to not drive in runs however to be in place to attain them when Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman or Teoscar Hernández are on the plate.
As a result of as Ohtani goes, the Dodgers go.
