The Los Angeles Dodgers eliminated a formidable Philadelphia Phillies team in the National League Division Series despite Shohei Ohtani largely being a non-factor at the plate.
The two-way star went 1-for-18 with one RBI, one walk and nine strikeouts in 20 plate appearances across four games.
Some wondered whether Ohtani’s obligations as a pitcher were having an effect on his hitting. However, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman believes the Phillies performed remarkably well in limiting Ohtani.
“I think the biggest thing is the stuff that the Phillies threw at us obviously was really good,” Friedman recently said. “But even beyond that, I thought the execution was as good as it can possibly be. So I think the combination of those things lining up.
“Look, if a pitcher who has really good stuff executes at an A-plus level, hitters aren’t going to hit. Hitting is way too difficult. It’s about hitting mistakes more than not. And they executed it on him at an elite rate. So could some swing decisions help and potentially get a mistake? For sure.
“But I think it was the most impressive execution against a hitter I’ve ever seen.”
The Phillies started Cristopher Sánchez — one of the game’s toughest left-handed pitchers — twice in four games against the Dodgers. Jesús Luzardo, another difficult southpaw, also made two appearances.
Ohtani’s lone hit came in Game 2 of the NLDS, which was an RBI single against Orion Kerkering.
The notion that Ohtani was mired in a slump also was dismissed by Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy. With that, the Brewers opted to intentionally walk Ohtani on multiple occasions during the NL Championship Series.
Shohei Ohtani bounced back in NLCS
After a relatively quiet postseason to date, Ohtani erupted in the Dodgers’ NLCS-clinching win over the Brewers with three home runs. He also pitched six-plus innings, complete with 10 strikeouts, in his second career playoff start.
The historic performance helped Ohtani win NLCS MVP honors, becoming only the 10th Dodgers player to do so.
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