LOS ANGELES — Dave Roberts was blunt about Shohei Ohtani’s 1-for-18 National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“We’re not going to win the World Series with that sort of performance,” the Dodgers manager said.
After going 1 for 7 in the first two games of the NL Championship Series, that quote was repeated to Ohtani during the Japanese portion of one of his infrequent media sessions on Wednesday afternoon. His response, as reported by the Japanese media (and not translated in English by his interpreter, Will Ireton), was essentially “Then if I hit, we will win the World Series.”
Ohtani offered less insight when translated into English. He responded to repeated inquiries about whether his first postseason as a two-way player might be affecting his offense by insisting “Same question, so no, my answer is still the same” as translated by Ireton – though the questions were each aimed at different aspects of the topic.
“During the regular season and postseason, my approach is pretty much the same – swing at strikes and not swinging at balls,” he said.
“As I said, my focus, No. 1, is to make sure that I have quality at-bats.”
As much as Ohtani tried to downplay his 2-for-25 slump during the NLDS and NLCS, his actions spoke louder – especially when he sent balls crashing into the right field pavilion at Dodger Stadium.
After throwing his bullpen session during Wednesday’s off-day workout (in preparation for his Game 4 start on the mound), Ohtani stepped in to take batting practice on the field – something he never does, preferring to do all of his hitting work in the batting cages under the stands where he can use all of the Dodgers’ state-of-the-art technology for feedback.
The on-field swings were such a rarity that he was cheered on by Roberts, the Dodgers’ coaching staff and a handful of teammates and his walkup song (Michael Buble’s ‘Feeling Good’) blasted from the sound system briefly, sending photographers and cameramen hustling into action.
It was the first time anyone could remember Ohtani taking batting practice on the field at Dodger Stadium since joining the team. The most intensely watched batting practice in an empty stadium was duly reported as featuring 32 swings that sent 14 balls into the stands, including one that landed on the pavilion roof an estimated 440 feet from home plate.
Before the power show, Roberts said he saw signs of improvement from Ohtani during the first two games of the NLCS.
“For me, I think the first two games in Milwaukee his at-bats have been fantastic,” Roberts said. “That’s what I’ve been looking for. That’s what I’m counting on.”
There were signs of life from Ohtani in Milwaukee. He drew three walks – two intentional. And he hit three balls that qualified as “hard-hit” by Statcast standards (exit velocity of 95 mph or higher) – a 99.8 mph ground out in Game 1, a 115.2 mph laser line out to right field and his 98 mph RBI single in Game 2.
“Those are positives for me,” Roberts said. “You can only take what they give you. So for me, I think he’s in a good spot right now.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy sees the same danger signs that Ohtani might be nearing a breakout.
“He’s dangerous, and we pitch him as tough and as careful as we can pitch him, and we bring a (left-hander) matchup in any time we can,” Murphy said Wednesday. “For a four-game stretch or a five-game stretch, whatever he’s struggled for, that’s not enough to say, ‘Oh, this guy is in a bad place’ because those guys are so good that they can flip it on, and boom, things can result-wise change like that.
“Ohtani I know had one line drive caught yesterday and got another hit. I don’t know, we walk him 100 times, so it’s like – I don’t look at him as struggling at all. I just don’t.”
If Ohtani’s at-bats in Milwaukee do portend a breakout, he will have to reverse another trend.
He is scheduled to pitch Game 4 on Friday night. Since returning to pitching this season, he has hit .222 (12 for 54) on the day he pitches and .147 (5 for 34) when he plays a game the day after.
“I don’t necessarily think that the pitching has affected my hitting performance,” he said. “Just on the pitching side, as long as I control what I can control, I feel pretty good about putting up results. On the hitting side, just the stance, the mechanics, that’s something that I do – it’s a constant work in progress.
“I do feel like I was able to have a pretty good season offensively, being able to have quality at-bats throughout the season.”