Ohtani brings energy with rare on-field BP amid postseason slump

LOS ANGELES -- One day before the NL Championship Series was to resume in L.A., there was an unusual sight at Dodger Stadium: Shohei Ohtani, taking batting practice on the field.

It's rare to see Ohtani hitting on the field, rather than out of sight in the batting cages. It brought a jolt of energy to the laid-back workout day atmosphere: A snippet of his walkup song, "Feeling Good" by Michael Bublé, blared over the speakers and his teammates whooped with excitement as he walked to the plate for the first time.

Across five rounds of BP, Ohtani parked ball after ball in the outfield seats, including one that cleared them altogether and clanged off the top of the pavilion roof in right field. The uncharacteristic behavior from the two-way superstar may have been part of an effort to break out of an ill-timed slump.

Ahead of the NLCS, manager Dave Roberts was blunt while addressing Ohtani's scuffle at the plate: "We’re not gonna win the World Series with that sort of performance," he said, referring to Ohtani going 1-for-18 with nine strikeouts against the Phillies in the NLDS.

Through the first two games of the NLCS, the Dodgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Brewers, putting themselves in a good position to clinch a return trip to the Fall Classic as the series shifts to Dodger Stadium beginning with Game 3 on Thursday afternoon. But Ohtani has not fared much better at the plate.

After a productive NL Wild Card Series against the Reds (two homers, four RBIs), Ohtani has gone just 2-for-25 (.080) with two RBIs, five walks and 12 strikeouts in six games since the beginning of the NLDS. He's made an impact with his limited contributions -- the two hits were RBI singles (NLDS Game 2, NLCS Game 2), and he's drawn a pair of intentional walks that have set up bases-loaded walks for Mookie Betts (NLDS Game 4, NLCS Game 1).

Ohtani has only two prior six-game stretches when he recorded no more than two hits, neither of which went for extra bases, in his Major League career. Both occurred back when he was with the Angels, in 2019 and '20.

Roberts believes the quality of Ohtani's at-bats has improved during the NLCS, but he knows there's more in there. And he stands by the point he made before the series began.

"I think the contribution is not just by batting average, either," Roberts said. "Certainly him being in the lineup, posting, getting the walks, allowing for Mookie to have opportunities to drive runs in -- that's contribution. … I still stand by that, and we've got a long way to go to win the World Series."

Here's a look at some factors that may be impacting Ohtani at the plate during the postseason:

Two-way duties

Being a two-way player is normal for Ohtani, but he's coming off a season in which he was exclusively a hitter while recovering from a second major surgery on his right elbow. Both on the days he started on the mound (12-for-54, .222) and the days after (5-for-34, .147), he experienced a dropoff in production.

That hasn't been as big a factor in the postseason, as Ohtani has made just one start on the mound. He went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in NLDS Game 1, but he tossed a quality start in his postseason pitching debut. He did not hit the day after because there was a series off-day.

Ohtani is slated to start NLCS Game 4, meaning he might have to hit the day after he pitches if the Brewers win at least one game in L.A. He does not think that his return to being a full two-way player is related to his ongoing slump.

"I don't necessarily think that the pitching has affected my hitting performance," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "Just on the pitching side, as long as I control what I can control, I feel pretty good about putting up results. On the hitting side, just the stance, the mechanics, that's something that I do -- it's a constant work in progress."

Swing decisions

While Ohtani had to face a gauntlet of tough lefties in the NLDS, in particular, Roberts pointed to his swing decisions as a big reason for his slump. Indeed, Ohtani's swing rate in the shadow zone -- pitches one baseball's length or less on either edge of the strike zone -- has jumped this postseason.

The league average shadow zone rate has not changed much from the regular season to the postseason. Ohtani's has increased from 43.7% to 52.1%, the highest rate among the 57 batters who have seen 75-plus pitches this postseason entering Wednesday.

This is notable because Ohtani's quality of contact suffers on pitches in the shadow zone. In the regular season, he hit .363 with a .870 slugging percentage (99.2 mph average exit velocity) vs. pitches in the heart of the zone, compared with .251 with a .516 slugging percentage (92.1 mph average exit velocity) vs. pitches in the shadow zone.

Method of attack

While Ohtani is generally seeing the same percentages of fastballs, breaking balls and offspeed pitches compared with in the regular season, opposing pitchers are throwing him more four-seamers and sinkers in the postseason.

The percentage of four-seamers and sinkers Ohtani is facing has increased from 43.7% to 49.3%. Sinker usage against Ohtani has especially ticked up, from 13.8% to 27.1%. While Ohtani handled both pitch types well during the regular season, that has not carried over to the postseason:

Regular season: .280 BA, .619 SLG, .413 wOBA and 26.4 whiff%

Postseason: .143 BA, .357 SLG, .269 wOBA and 14.8 whiff%

This type of offensive slump is so unusual for Ohtani that it feels like only a matter of time before he breaks out of it. The Dodgers have managed just fine in the interim, winning five of the six games since his scuffle began.

And Ohtani took some solace in his manager's assertion that the Dodgers are going to need the best version of him if they're to become the first team in a quarter century to repeat as champions.

"If anything, I took it as him believing that we can win if I’m hitting well," Ohtani said in Japanese. "So I just want to do my best."