Shohei Ohtani is going through some rough times in the hitting department of the game, but he has been contributing in other ways, like silently hitting the game-winning RBI against the Phillies in game 2 of the NLDS, which ended up becoming a 4-3 win for the Dodgers.
In game 1 of the same series, Shohei was the game-winning pitcher, striking out 9 while allowing only 3 runs, just enough for his team to come back after trailing.
Shohei receives a lot of criticism for his obvious struggle with hitting in the postseason, but he is rarely credited for his other contributions on the field, such as forcing a walk in game 1 of the NLCS against the Brewers, which led to an eventual run and a 2-1 victory.
Dating back to the NLDS in the last postseason, down 0-3 against the San Diego Padres, Shohei hit a game-tying homer against Dylan Cease, which changed the outcome because it was a game that could have easily gotten away from the Dodgers. The Dodgers won the game by the score of 7-5, but without that homer, the game would have been a 5-4 victory for the Padres. The San Diego Padres won the next two games, leaving the Dodgers on the verge of elimination. Without Shohei’s homer in game 1, the Padres would have swept the Dodgers. Hence, the Dodgers would never have won the World Series last year.
Despite facing criticism for his lack of offensive contributions in the postseason, Shohei remains a formidable force. And pitchers could be thinking that since he is struggling, they are going to pitch to him like any regular player. That could be their greatest mistake. They should never forget that the hitter they are pitching to is Shohei. It is when they forget that the team facing him could be most vulnerable. Let us not forget that he remains Shohei Ohtani, the unparalleled all-around player of all time.
<------Sung Mun Song to be posted to MLB
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