Shohei Ohtani perked up when he heard his name.
“I told him,” Dodgers backup catcher Austin Barnes said after Ohtani’s three-run moonshot iced an 8-0 victory over the Mets in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, “hit the ball over the fence.”
“Not bad advice,” Ohtani said.
Barnes clapped his hands three times. “Like, ‘Today, man, over the fence.’”
Ohtani beamed as he dressed to leave the ballpark, two victories away from the World Series.
“Good coaching,” Ohtani said.
Ohtani’s game is not that simple. However, he can occasionally make it appear that way. On Wednesday, for example, he hit a ball in the eighth inning that appeared to have the potential to drop in Flushing Bay had the second deck at Citi Field not been in the way.
Shohei Ohtani has not recorded a hit in 22 at-bats with no one on base but has seven hits in nine at-bats with runners aboard. (Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
The home run prolonged Ohtani’s strange postseason splits, sent a wave of Mets fans to the exits, and relieved manager Dave Roberts’ stress. This week, the Dodgers came to Queens with the intention of squeezing through three straight games with starting pitchers who could not stay in games for very long. Ohtani shielded the bullpen and increased the lead with a single stroke. High-leverage relievers Daniel Hudson and Evan Phillips were not required by Roberts. The team should start Phillips, Hudson, Blake Treinen, and Michael Kopech, who combined for two scoreless innings on Wednesday, in Game 4 with Yoshinobu Yamamoto opening.
“Those things matter,” Roberts said.
Ohtani is participating in the postseason for the first time. Although he has spent a large portion of his professional career under scrutiny, American audiences have never before examined his at-bats in such detail. He walked twice in a Game 2 loss and contributed two singles in a Game 1 victory. But in the last several months of the season, he had made the game seem so easy—every time he saw a pitch, he hit it hard—that every out he made seemed to be a sign of a long slump.
Ohtani was swinging too frequently at pitches beyond the strike zone, according to Roberts. In Game 2, he appeared lost against Sean Mananea, the Mets starter. Ohtani brushed off inquiries about his confidence and demeanor Tuesday before the Dodgers worked out at Citi Field. He did not think the postseason glare was making him wilt. He did not think of himself as being in the middle of a terrible stretch.
“I do feel OK at the plate,” Ohtani said through his interpreter, Will Ireton. “I do feel like I (can) recall back to the times when I (felt) good and perhaps incorporate that into it.”
There was a strange discrepancy in his splits that contributed to the worry. Ohtani has seven hits in nine at-bats with runners aboard, but he has not produced a hit in 22 at-bats with no one on base. Ohtani leads off the Dodgers lineup, but most sluggers might not care as much about the difference. During the regular season, he stole 59 bases using his legs. In October, he has not taken anything.
On Tuesday, Ohtani maintained that his goals as a bat will not change despite this little pause in his output.“Regardless of however they are pitching to me, my plan is to stay with the same approach as much as possible and not really be too focused on how they attack me,” he said.
In Game 3, Ohtani fulfilled that pledge. On the first pitch he saw, a fastball from Mets starter Luis Severino that was hitting 95 mph, he grounded out. Severino could not find the zone after two innings, so Ohtani went for a walk. Ohtani thrashed as Mets reliever Reed Garrett’s 0-2 cutter dropped toward his cleats in the sixth inning following Kiké Hernández’s two-run homer.
The bases were empty for each of those at-bats. Ohtani’s fourth failed to do so. He came after Hernández singled with two outs and Will Smith walked. Tylor Megill, a reliever for the Mets, attempted to sneak an inside strike with a 0-1 cutter. The ball was waffled into right field by Ohtani. There was a collective gasp among the 43,883 spectators crammed into the ballpark. The homer’s initial speed of 115.9 mph at an estimated distance of 397 feet is not accurately represented by the statistics. The ball hooked close enough to the pole to warrant a check of the replay.
“I don’t know how you would even overturn that,” said third baseman Max Muncy, who reached base in five plate appearances and added a solo shot in the ninth. “The ball was 100 feet over the foul pole. The foul pole’s not tall enough for that one.”
Robert’s endgame calculations were altered by the home run. In the seventh inning, he had faced the bottom of the Mets lineup with one of his relief aces, Treinen. Hudson relaxed in the bullpen as the Dodgers led four runs at the start of the eighth inning. Treinen would return for the eighth if the score did not change. Hudson would pitch if a run was added by the Dodgers. Three more runs? Roberts was able to use rookie Ben Casparius for the last two innings as a result. “It gets easier the more runs we score,” Treinen stated.
For Game 4, the bullpen should be nearly at full strength. Without Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos, and Pete Alonso of the Mets getting repeated opportunities at the same relievers, the Dodgers are attempting to win this series. Roberts has been successful thus far. “It is probably best if we can conceal guys more and prevent them from entering,” Hudson stated.
Ohtani left the ballpark without speaking to reporters. He did not need to say much. “It was important,” Roberts said, “for Shohei to build some confidence.” His team holds the high ground. His swing silenced a ballpark and saved his bullpen. It also offered a reminder. Even amid this relative downturn in his hitting, Ohtani can inspire awe. That, of course, is not shocking.
(Top photo of Shohei Ohtani: Elsa / Getty Images)
