\n \u201cIt\u2019s really never been done, certainly at this level,\u201d Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> manager Dave Roberts said of his star player\u2019s two-way performance against the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> in Game 1 of their NLDS matchup. \u201cI use the word compartmentalize a lot, this epitomizes compartmentalizing. He\u2019s essentially two people in one game.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cTo look at the at-bats he took tonight and how he struggled offensively, to separate that and just be a pitcher \u2026 and keep us in the ballgame. I don\u2019t know any other human that can manage those emotions, how do you not take to the mound? We continue to just witness history.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Ohtani\u2019s nine strikeouts were the third most ever made by a Dodgers pitcher in their career playoff debut. Only Don Newcombe \u2013 with 11 in the 1949 World Series \u2013 and Tim Belcher \u2013 with 10 in the 1988 NLCS \u2013 have racked up more.\n <\/p>\n \n The Japanese superstar threw 89 pitches across six innings, giving up three runs in the second but recovering by sitting down 15 of the last 17 hitters he faced. Even the Phillies\u2019 biggest hitters like Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper couldn\u2019t muster a hit against Ohtani, who earned the win as the Dodgers prevailed 5-3.\n <\/p>\n \n His excellent showing was even more impressive considering how much of an off day he had with the bat.\n <\/p>\n \n Historically, Ohtani has misfired with the bat at Philadelphia \u2013 going into the game, none of his 250 career homers have come there. That did not change on Saturday as he produced an uncharacteristically shaky performance, going 0-for-4 with a walk and four strikeouts.\n <\/p>\n \n But such is Ohtani\u2019s unique status in the game that he made history simply by stepping up to the plate \u2013 the 31-year-old is the first player in Major League history to start at least one game as a pitcher and at least one as a non-pitcher in the same postseason.\n <\/p>\n \n He also became just the second starting pitcher to bat higher than eighth. Babe Ruth \u2013 who was sixth in the lineup for the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the World Series in 1918 \u2013 was the first.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI was a little nervous imagining myself out there on the mound. But once I was on the mound and on the field, that went away, and it was really me focusing. I was able to enjoy the atmosphere,\u201d Ohtani told reporters after Saturday\u2019s game.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe reason why I\u2019m a two-way player is because that\u2019s who I am, it\u2019s what I can do and, at the same time, it\u2019s what the team wants.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The Dodgers claimed their eighth World Series title last year partly on the back of Ohtani\u2019s historic season at the plate. Keep this up, and he has a shot at pitching Los Angeles to a repeat.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Batters try all sorts to get themselves right when they\u2019re having a bad day at the plate. Some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-191677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Shohei](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/gettyimages-2239283118.jpg\")
<\/p>\n