ATLANTA — It is not something you expect to hear about a four-time league MVP.
“He’s doing the best he can,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about Shohei Ohtani following another unproductive night from their star.
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Ohtani had a single in each of the first two games of the National League Division Series. The single in his first at-bat in Game 1 was at least hit hard – 105.4 mph off the bat through the right side of the infield. His Game 2 single was more about placement – he “blocked” it toward third base with the Atlanta Braves’ infield shifted to the right.
The Dodgers are clearly getting a diminished version of Ohtani this postseason. The lingering question is whether he is still diminished by injury and trying to compensate for his physical limitations or if he is struggling to find his swing dynamics and timing after getting just 30 at-bats in the final month of the regular season.
“I think it’s a combo, like most things,” Roberts said before the team’s workout at Truist Park on Monday night. “I think that the amount of at-bats leading up to it, it was, I think, five games, I think you still – I felt good about having some at-bats to finish the season, the at-bats that he took in the bye week.
“Like we’ve talked about, he’s not 100 percent. But at the end of the day, he can still do a better job of staying in the strike zone. I don’t think that that has anything to do with – he had the five games. He had the at-bats in between. I think that’s something that – it’s hard to have success when you’re out of the zone.
“Shohei understands, any hitter understands that. … Then the question is how do we get him into it? I think there’s a little bit of trying to do too much. I think that’s a piece.”
The Braves’ scouting report for this series certainly took note of that. But even though he’s struggling, Roberts said, Ohtani can earn their respect.
“Everything orbits around Shohei in the sense of his talent,” Roberts said. “And the Braves are going to enter with caution. So, knowing that, they’re going to continue to expand as long as we keep giving that to them. So until we show some discipline, they’re going to continue to kind of use that playbook.”
Ohtani has not been a power threat at the plate for quite some time. He will enter Game 3 on Tuesday with just one extra-base hit (a double) in his past 62 plate appearances (including the NLDS). He has not hit a home run since Aug. 18 in Colorado (where he hit three in two days). Ninety-four homer-less plate appearances and counting have followed.
Roberts acknowledged that there might be a connection between Ohtani’s increased chase rate of late and his desire to hit for power.
“I think there’s something to that,” Roberts said. “Hitting homers, slugging – it’s part of his hallmark in the batter’s box. He’s very in tune with what’s being said, what he hasn’t done.
“But to be quite honest, that at-bat yesterday – the block base hit the other way – that’s something that is production. And I think that’s something where, against a guy like Chris Sale (the Braves’ Game 3 starter), gives you a chance. Trying to chase slug tomorrow night might not be the right plan, given the starter. But I do think that, yeah, there’s something because he feels the responsibility to kind of slug. … That’s kind of the competitor in him.”
Last year, Ohtani had a bad NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies, going 1 for 18 with nine strikeouts (mainly against the Phillies’ left-handed pitching). He definitely was “in tune with” what was being said at the time about “what he hasn’t done.”
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On the first off day during the NL Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani made a point of taking batting practice on the field and putting on a power show, sending balls to the far reaches of Dodger Stadium – and beyond. Then he had possibly the greatest postseason game any player has ever had – hitting three home runs and pitching six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and just two hits allowed in the Game 4 clincher.
If Ohtani is hearing the questions about his performance again this postseason, is he capable of another explosive response?
“I think so,” Roberts said. “I think as far as, like, the bat speed. When I see him running, the foot speed is still there, the leg strength is still there.
“I do think that’s possible, absolutely.”
MVP STRUGGLES
The Braves are not getting the best from their former MVP either. Ronald Acuña Jr. won the award in 2023 but has been felled by repeated knee injuries since. He had a sub-par regular season this year (.255/.345/.541) and has started this postseason 3 for 18 (.167), including hitting into a double play with the bases loaded in Game 2.
“Look, with Ronald, like I said all along, every time he steps in the box, he might do something special,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “Now, we had an opportunity last night, the bases loaded, and you’re not always going to come through. But I don’t worry about him just because the talent is so big that it’s going to show up.”
LINEUP LOOK
After a lackluster offensive performance in Game 2 and knowing what Sale did against them in August (a complete-game shutout), Roberts said he would consider some lineup changes for Game 3. But don’t expect anything drastic.
“I mean, if you’re looking at tomorrow night, you’ve got Kiké (Hernandez), you’ve got Miggy Ro, you’ve got (Max) Muncy. We’ve got good options,” he said. “I don’t see Josue De Paula being an option (to start the game). I don’t see myself sitting Will Smith.
“At the end of the day, our guys are our guys. And, yeah, I can tweak a lineup. I can take out a player or two. But at the end of the day we still have got to go out there and play and execute and take good at-bats.”
Roberts has batted Ohtani second against the Braves’ two left-handed ‘openers’ in the first two games with Mookie Betts at leadoff. He acknowledged Ohtani’s struggles could lead him to consider dropping him even further in the lineup.
“I would. I would,” Roberts said. “I think moving him from one to two – but going further than that? I’m open to it. And it’s something that if I do, I would obviously have the conversation with Shohei to explain why.”
UP NEXT
Game 3 – Dodgers (RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 14-9, 2.53 ERA) at Braves (LHP Chris Sale, 14-9, 2.16 ERA), Tuesday, 3 p.m. PT, FS1, 570 AM
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