The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres in the NLDS without much help from superstar Shohei Ohtani. The designated hitter went 4-20 with two walks and ten strikeouts in his first postseason series. In the process, the Padres exposed one of the very few holes in Ohtani's game. The Athletic's Andy McCullough detailed how the Mets can take advantage of this deficiency in the NLCS.
Rival evaluators believe pitchers can disarm Ohtani by firing fastballs up and in. That is considered a hole Ohtani has not yet closed. Yet reaching that location can be perilous. Misses can leak over the plate, in the sort of spot where Ohtani can send them into orbit. Facing Ohtani, [Padres reliever Tanner] Scott did not miss. He pumped fastballs for strikes and eventually lured him out of the strike zone with high-90s heat.
McCullough details how Padres closer Tanner Scott was deployed during the five-game series. He faced Ohtani in four of the games, striking him out all four times. The Mets do not have a pitcher with the capabilities of Scott, even with Edwin Diaz coming out of the bullpen.
Ohtani will provide a tough matchup for the Mets, as he does for almost every team in the league. He put together the first-ever 50-homer, 50-steal season in his first year with the Dodgers. He must continue his great season in October.
Shohei Ohtani must dominate in the NLCS
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The Dodgers have a significant disadvantage at starting pitcher despite having the better record in the regular season. They may roll with a bullpen game in Game 2 because of the cavalcade of injuries to their rotation. Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow are unavailable for the entire postseason.
That means that the Dodgers' offensive starts have to produce for them to win the National League pennant. That includes Ohtani, who had never played in the MLB postseason before last week. Now that he is accustomed to the brightest lights in the game, he has to shake the rust off.
Against the Mets this season, Ohtani went 6-19 with five runs scored in just five games. New York's pitching has not been able to get him out this year and there's a chance that continues in the biggest games of the season. Aaron Judge has shown that regular-season greatness does not always translate to postseason success. Ohtani must make sure he does not fall into that category by the end of the NLCS.
