Shohei Ohtani has taken over the leadoff spot in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup ever since Mookie Betts suffered a fractured hand on June 16, and he is dominating in the batter’s box once again.
Ohtani had recently been going through a bit of a slump at the plate in the beginning of the month, that could have been stemming from a left hamstring contusion he suffered weeks prior.
Back on June 4, Ohtani was still dealing with lingering discomfort in his hamstring and was batting .193/.270/.351 in his last 15 games at the time. His struggles were most likely connected to his injury as it was leading to a noticeable change in his swing.
The slump was not overly concerning to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts who stated that it was just a matter of Ohtani getting back to full health.
Now with Ohtani staying true to his approach and his hamstring seemingly back to 100%, he has been putting up monstrous numbers in the past few series against the Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels and Chicago White Sox.
“I think even before Mookie went down, the couple days prior, he got back into a good place where he was swinging at his strikes, the right strikes for him, and not chasing as much,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“And then, just naturally, he went into that lead-off spot and then continued to do what he’s been doing. So like I told you guys, when he’s stayed in the big part of the field and getting the ball up in the hitting zone, there’s no one even close to as good as he is.”
Ohtani has been on a tear at the plate as of late. He was recently named the National League Player of the Week, and he has eight home runs in his last 10 games.
He also set the Dodgers’ franchise record with an RBI in 10 consecutive games.
Since moving into the leadoff spot, Ohtani has hit .424/.545/1.061 with six home runs, 12 runs scored, 15 RBI, one stolen base and a 317 wRC+ over nine games.
Shohei Ohtani was looking forward to playing his former team
The Dodgers began the annual Freeway Series on Friday at Dodger Stadium, which gave Ohtani his first regular season opportunity to play against the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani said he was excited to play them and that he still keeps tabs on news surrounding the team.
He also shared his thoughts on how it is going to feel when the Dodgers go Anaheim to complete the second leg of the series.
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