by Cary Osborne
In a perfect world, things would line up for Shohei Ohtani — in his return season as a pitcher — to start on the mound in a potential clinch game that could send the Dodgers to the World Series.
Whether it’s one of his bobblehead nights, a return to Japan to open the regular season, or when he has been on the cusp of a historic achievement, the face of Major League Baseball has often risen to the occasion.
The set up is here. The Dodgers won the first three games of the National League Championship Series, and the perfect world scenario has come to fruition.
Tonight’s Game 4 doesn’t rest squarely on his shoulders. But this game, more than any in this series, will be the one he has the most control over.
“My No. 1 priority is making sure I’m putting up zeroes, no matter what, and making sure we’re the team that scores first,” Ohtani said.
No player in Major League postseason history has had more of an opportunity to help his team do both.
Ohtani will start on the mound and bat leadoff, like he did in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Phillies on Oct. 4. He became the first starting pitcher to lead off a postseason game in Major League history.
Babe Ruth was the Boston Red Sox starting pitcher in Game 4 of the 1918 World Series and batted sixth. It was the previous highest batting position for a starting pitcher in postseason history. Ruth drove in the first run of the game — a two-run triple in the fourth inning. He was also the winning pitcher, allowing two runs over eight innings.
Ohtani, the designated hitter, scored the first run in Thursday’s NLCS Game 3 after a leadoff triple.
Ohtani, the starting pitcher, went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in NLDS Game 1.
Ohtani reached five innings as a starting pitcher for the first time on August. 27. Including that game, he is 3-for-20 with a home run in the last five games he has started as a pitcher. That has brought forth questions about multi-tasking.
“I don’t necessarily think the pitching has affected my hitting performance,” Ohtani said. “On the pitching side, as long as I can control what I can control I feel pretty good about being able to put up results. On the hitting side, the stance, the mechanics — it’s a constant work-in-progress.”
Ohtani will be facing a Brewers team that is 9-for-89 with 30 strikeouts in this series. They’re 1-for-27 against breaking balls in this series — which is a significant part of Ohtani’s arsenal. This is the biggest dose of high velocity they’ve faced this series.
That’s the part of the multi-tasking that might be most important — the pitching.
“I think this is his opportunity to make his mark on this series,” said manager Dave Roberts. “And, so, we’re going to see his best effort. So, I feel good that he’s pitching for us.”
2025 NLCS: Ohtani, the pitcher, has an opportunity unlike any other in his MLB career was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.