Shohei Ohtani insists he can still play, that his symptoms have “subdued a lot,” and his “No. 1 priority is for the team to win,” but his bat has been ice cold since mid-August, and the Dodgers’ entire season is riding on him proving it right now. After looking completely out of sorts to start the postseason, it’s on the four-time MVP to find his swing, because the Brewers are not messing around.
The Four-Time MVP Is Hitting .150, And He Knows It
This isn’t just a slight dip. Shohei Ohtani hasn’t homered since August 18. Let that sink in. He’s hitting a brutal .150 with absolutely no extra-base hits this postseason. Even worse, dating back to August 19, and including this postseason slump, Ohtani has only knocked in one single run. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had a chat with him, saying, “I did speak to Sho, had a great conversation. He’s adamant he feels good enough to be in there. He’s close to finding something with his swing. I feel great about it.”
You gotta believe Ohtani is feeling the pressure. Roberts even said, “I do think that Shohei has taken this as a personal challenge.” But it’s not like teams are making it easy for him. Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández told me, “They’re being careful, the same way like if he was doing an MVP season. It’s not like he’s been getting pitches to hit. It’s going to be even tougher, especially when you’re in a slump like that, to come through because they’re not going to let you get out.” When you’re the best player on the planet, everyone’s watching, and right now, his swing has vanished when the team needs it most.
The Brewers Are Shutting Down Everything That Made The Champs Inevitable
It’s not just Ohtani’s bat, though it definitely starts there. The Brewers are an absolute nightmare right now, an “exhausting challenge.” They wear opponents out with long at-bats, refusing to chase pitches outside the zone, and they don’t let up when they get down. On the mound, they’re overpowering hitters with a “bevy of hard-throwing, whiff-inducing pitchers,” coming at you from every arm angle imaginable. Plus, they run the bases well and play sound defense. That’s how they won a franchise-record 103 games, and apart from a few uncharacteristic errors this October, they’ve brought that same dominance to “the sport’s biggest stage.” Honestly, it’s no surprise “the best team in baseball looks the part.”
What *is* surprising is how they’ve completely neutralized the reigning back-to-back champions, who seemed like an inevitable force just a week ago. The Dodgers could always rely on their insane starting pitching, one of “the most talented collections of starting pitchers ever assembled.” They’d won their last eight games started by deadline addition Tarik Skubal, the back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner, until the Brewers’ relentless attack got to him in Game 1 of the NLCS. Then, they’d won their last five postseason games where Yoshinobu Yamamoto made an appearance, until the Brewers chased the reigning World Series MVP in the third inning of Game 2. That was the shortest playoff outing of Yamamoto’s illustrious career! Even the offense, which homered eight times in their first four postseason games, has gone completely cold, hitting zero homers in their first two games of this series in Milwaukee.
Roberts made it clear: “it’s not a one-man show. It’s got to be all of us, myself included, who have got to be better.” But right now, the Dodgers’ three-peat dreams are hanging by a thread, and if their superhero can’t magically rediscover his powers over the next few days, this season is toast. Can Ohtani find something, anything, with that swing, or is this the end of the road?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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