Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani gets back on track with HR in loss to Giants
LOS ANGELES -- The sight of Shohei Ohtani taking batting practice outdoors is both rare and telling.
On Monday afternoon, Ohtani hit outside for the second time in a week, a clear indication of his prolonged slump. This time, he was being opportunistic. Rocky Gale, theLos Angeles Dodgers' catching coordinator, was in town throwing to hitters. Gale throws a two-seamer that runs away from left-handers, and Ohtani thought seeing that pitch, keeping his front shoulder closed and driving it to the opposite field might unlock something he'd been missing.
A little more than 24 hours later, it manifested.
In the third inning of another lifeless game for the Dodgers' offense, Ohtani tracked a sinker that tailed away from him and lined it deep into the left-center-field gap, sending it 398 feet at 106 mph. It snapped an 11-game homerless drought, tied for his longest as a Dodger, and was part of a night in which he also singled, drew a walk and was robbed of another hit.
The Dodgers lost to the division rival San Francisco Giants6-2on Tuesday night, but they came away with the thought that their best hitter might finally be on track again.
"It's not his sole responsibility," said manager Dave Roberts, whose team has lost four in a row and scored three runs or fewer in 10 of its past 13 games. "But when your best player is doing what he's capable of doing, it just adds that energy into the dugout, frees guys up a little bit to do something too."
Before the game, Roberts informed Ohtani he would keep him out of the lineup on back-to-back nights -- for his pitching start on Wednesday and for Thursday's series finale. It was a rare step. Outside of stints on the paternity and injured lists, Ohtani hadn't been absent from his team's lineup in two consecutive games since 2021, before the universal designated hitter came into play, but Roberts felt it was necessary.
In his first 10 games this month, Ohtani had mustered three singles and one double in 36 at-bats. Half of his batted balls were grounders. His batting average for the season had dropped to .233, his lowest mark at least 40 games into a season since 2020. His OPS was down to .767, his lowest in the month of May since 2022, which also marked his last time navigating full-time two-way duties. It probably wasn't a coincidence.
"I think the fatigue is bleeding into the mechanics," Roberts said before the game. "I think that most players get that towards the end of the summer. And now I'm learning, managing Shohei, it has probably shown itself a little earlier as far as the tax on pitching and all that comes with it to the hitting too."
Ohtani is excelling as a pitcher like never before, boasting a 0.97 ERA with 42 strikeouts and nine walks in 37 innings. There is a segment of people on the Dodgers, and scouts with other organizations, who believe placing that much focus on pitching has forced his hitting to wane.
"Understandable so, by the way," one veteran scout said.
Others think his lower half is more fatigued than normal, a by-product of tackling two-way duties as he approaches his 32nd birthday.
Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates, who noted that Ohtani's pregame hitting routine has stayed the same through each of his three seasons with the organization, believes the issue was simply a matter of getting his shoulders and legs to align correctly so he can "uncoil correctly on the ball."
"That's kind of what he's been going through for a while now," Bates said, "is finding the right tension in the body and the right positions to start in so he can basically make his move."
Ohtani's first at-bat didn't provide much optimism in that regard. On the first pitch, he fouled off an Adrian Houser sinker down the middle. On the fourth, he was well out in front of a changeup but still managed to sneak a grounder through the right side for a base hit. Two innings later, Ohtani locked in, showing patience on a 2-1, outside-corner sinker and launching it for what is still only his seventh home run.
A five-pitch walk followed in the fifth. Ohtani chased two pitches out of the zone to strike out against lefty Sam Hentges in the seventh, but he hit a 98.1 mph two-hopper to the right side in the ninth -- only for Giants second baseman Luis Arraez to snatch it for the final out.
Wednesday will mark the third time in four turns through the rotation that Ohtani starts on the mound but does not hit, a rarity in his days with the Los Angeles Angels. Roberts said he didn't give much thought to putting Ohtani into the starting lineup, despite his offensive performance. He didn't want to go back on his word. Also, he wants to stick with the Dodgers' plan of giving him time off as often as possible. Ohtani's next time in the lineup, then, won't be until Friday from Angel Stadium.
Asked of his concern that Ohtani won't be able to carry this over, given the gap, Roberts said: "None whatsoever."
"You just can't be reactive over one game. You really can't. You're pitching. I've talked about the workload, and I've talked to him at length about it. It's tough on days he pitches. I don't think it's fair to the player just to assume he threw out a couple knocks so he should be in there tomorrow. I don't like playing that game."
