by Cary Osborne
Shohei Ohtani’s first at-bat in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series ended in not so much as a swing but a chop.
Mets starter Sean Manaea, with one of the most acute and tricky arm slots in the Major Leagues, came at him like the ball was fired from first base and struck out Ohtani.
It’s the second starting pitcher this postseason that Ohtani hasn’t tracked well — the other being Padres starter Yu Darvish, who slows into a flamingo stance, holds it then fires one of his array of pitches.
Add Tanner Scott in there, who Ohtani struck out four times against in the NL Division Series.
Ohtani is 1-for-12 with eight strikeouts against those three pitchers in the postseason.
Against every other pitcher, he is 5-for-15 with five walks and a slash line of .333/.500/.533/1.033.
No more Darvish. No more Scott. And Manaea is a ways away in this series.
“I certainly appreciate the guys that he faces, and understanding that that’s probably some of the reason why whatever his production or average or whatever anyone wants to look at, he’s faced some tough pitchers. And they’re pitching him very tough,” said manager Dave Roberts. “For me, looking at tomorrow, I feel really good about tomorrow. Probably not going to see Manaea until Game 6, if there is a Game 6. Yeah, I feel good. But I do feel that he’s got to continue to manage his hitting zone regardless of who’s pitching. And I do think that he can hit anyone, as we all know.”
It’s a difficult thing.
After becoming the first 50/50 player in Major League history and having one of the greatest regular seasons in Dodger history, expectations are of course New York skyline high.
Ohtani said he feels good with his swing.
When he has gotten a hold of the baseball, he is making quality contact. Small sample size, but his barrels per batted-ball events is 26.7%. It was 21.5% during the regular season.
“What I do know is that we’ve been playing against good teams, better teams, with their best pitchers. So being able to get base hits, put up results isn’t as easy maybe as it could be,” Ohtani said. “And so with that being said, my focus really is on just whatever happened in the previous game, that’s it. And I’m really focused on the next game ….”
Ohtani’s starting pitching matchups over the next two games are right-hander Luis Severino (3-for-6, a home run against him in his career) and Jose Quintana (who he has never faced).
Ohtani has reached base three times in five plate appearances against Mets pitcher not named Sean Manaea.
Roberts said during points of the season when Ohtani wasn’t on that the Dodger designated hitter was expanding his zone.
That’s still the key for the postseason, Roberts said. If he does that and a few other things, there’s a confidence that these games in New York could see Ohtani at his best.
“He’s still got to be kind of stubborn in his zone,” Roberts said. “And I do feel that tomorrow he’s got to get back to the big part of the field. If he can do that, it should bode well for all of us.”
NLCS: Ohtani is not as far off as it seems was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.