Shohei Ohtani went 4 for 20 with 10 strikeouts in five NLDS games, but the Los Angeles Dodgers were still able to advance past the San Diego Padres and clinch a spot in the NLCS. They will face a red hot Mets team next round. Ohtani’s first playoff impression vastly underwhelmed the baseball world. For his standards, Ohtani’s on-field performance was forgettable at best. In a series-clinching Game 5, Ohtani went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts.
Angels fans are shaking their heads in disgust. For 6 years, Shohei Ohtani had to be Superman-incarnate in order for the Angels to keep a regular season game close. Now, on his super-team across town, Ohtani can hit .200 and strike out in half of his at bats, and it does not matter. The Dodgers will win anyway. Over the totality of the 5 games, Ohtani stole 0 bases and did not hit a double or triple.
Ohtani was incredible in Game 1, clobbering a game-tying, 3-run, eerily similar home run off Dylan Cease in the second postseason plate appearance of his career. Ohtani turned on a 97mph fastball and hit it 112mph for his first ever playoff home run. Later in Game 1, with the Dodgers trailing 5-3, Ohtani hit a single to load the bases. He scored the tying run on a Teoscar Hernández single, Mookie Betts scored the go-ahead run, and the Dodgers would not trail the rest of the game. All 4 of Ohtani’s NLDS RBIs actually came against Cease, as he knocked him out of the game in the 2nd inning of Game 4 with an RBI single. That RBI put the Dodgers up 2-0.
Ohtani provided ample leadership and competitive spirit during the series, however. Ohtani’s on-field accomplishments are often lauded, but his off-field presence and mindset are little-discussed. He endorsed Yoshinobu Yamamoto as his favorite option for the Game 5 starter, continuing his mentorship of the $325 million rookie. Ohtani’s undoubtedly instilled an abundance of confidence in Yamamoto, perhaps living vicariously through the Dodgers’ ace because he cannot pitch this season. Ohtani’s competitive juices were at an all-time high (rivaling his mentality during his gold medal run at the World Baseball Classic), and fans saw a side of him that they had never seen before.
Shohei Ohtani was HEATED after watching the replay of the third base umpire getting in the way of Teo’s hit.
He likely cost another easy run for the Dodgers.
You don’t see Ohtani get mad often…
pic.twitter.com/78T1koCIzR— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) October 10, 2024
Much like Padres fans, Angels fans are pretty livid after that series. Seeing their crosstown rival advance a round closer to the World Series is, candidly, nauseating for most of Angels Nation. Seeing Ohtani not contribute at all hurts more, as he was the one aspect of the Dodgers that Angels fans could stomach. Maybe not all Angels fans were rooting for their former two-way star, but the majority were.
Early in his Dodgers tenure, Ohtani made private comments in which he indicated that he struggled with runners in scoring position because of previously playing for the Angels. With the Angels, Ohtani knew that if he did not come through with RISP then they were likely going to lose. MLB fans are happy to see that Ohtani no longer needs to be superhuman for his team to succeed. Angels fans, well, they are resigned to their current misery for the time being.
