LOS ANGELES —Dave Roberts said it best over the weekend.
“You don’t hear the word slump correlated with Shohei (Ohtani) on the hitting side, ever,” the Dodgers manager quipped Saturday morning. “He’s working. It’ll balance itself out. But, yeah, he’s going through it right now.”
Mired in a scuffle for most of April, Ohtani homered on Sunday to cap off his first three-hit day of the season. He reached base four times as the Dodgers beat the Cubs 6-0 in the rubber match of their three-game series at Dodger Stadium.
After going 0-for-12 heading into Saturday’s game, Ohtani singled, walked twice and then snapped a streak of 59 plate appearances without a home run on Sunday. That was a noteworthy gap for one of baseball’s esteemed sluggers.
Ohtani had quality at-bats on Saturday, signaling that he was feeling like himself at the plate again.
“Started to head in the right direction yesterday,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton on the Dodgers’ postgame television broadcast. “I just have to be a little more patient throughout.”
Shohei Ohtani sends one out the other way 😤 pic.twitter.com/la5DBLQvZ5
— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2026
The results of Ohtani’s at-bats on Sunday progressed throughout the game. He worked the count full before drawing a walk against Cubs starter Shota Imanaga to lead off the bottom of the first. He singled in the second and doubled in the fifth, with the two-bagger registering an exit velocity of 108.8 mph — the most encouraging sign for Ohtani in several games.
In his fourth and final at-bat, Ohtani hammered a first-pitch sinker from Hoby Milner nearly 110 mph over the left-center fence for his first home run since April 12. That he homered to the opposite field — and did so off a lefty — provided two more promising signs.
Ohtani has had just one day off as a hitter this season, April 15, on a designated pitching start day. Since then, his offense dipped dramatically. In Ohtani’s previous 43 plate appearances heading into Sunday, he had a .607 OPS with 12 strikeouts. Most of his contact during that stretch came in the form of weak groundballs to the right side of the field. That was a sign, Roberts said, of Ohtani expanding below the strike zone and chasing pitches he couldn’t do damage with.
“I think he’s chasing a little too much down below for me,” Roberts said ahead of Friday’s series opener. “Lots of grounders. Hard to hit a ball in the air that’s at your kneecaps and below. I think that if we can get him back up a little higher, raise his sights, and get to the big part of the field, I think he’ll be back to being Shohei.”
Ohtani expressed frustration over his offensive production after his pitching start against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday. He notched six scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to a microscopic 0.38. But that didn’t stop him from lamenting his performances at the plate.
“It’s correct to say that I am not in the best position,” Ohtani said. “It’s not horrible, but it is something I have experienced in the past, April being kind of like this.”
After Friday’s game, when Ohtani went 0-for-3 with a walk and three strikeouts, he made an adjustment to his stance. He felt his setup was off, and reset his direction. The pitch selection improved, with Ohtani starting to lay off more pitches below the zone.
“Everything is about the posture,” Ohtani said. “If that’s locked in, everything else will follow.”
Ohtani rule? Ohtani rules. pic.twitter.com/uG5nZr2ng0
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 26, 2026
The Dodgers will take any increase in production at the top of their order, which has slumped collectively over the past two weeks. Kyle Tucker moved down from the two-hole to the middle of the lineup, and Freddie Freeman moved up. With several players dealing with colds, Roberts has had to get creative with who he slots in the third and fourth spots. Still, the manager pointed out that the bottom portion of the lineup, specifically Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland, is producing more effectively than the top.
“They’re just doing a really good job of taking quality at-bats,” Roberts said. “There just aren’t a lot of empty at-bats from the seven through nine.”
There was never much concern about Ohtani’s slow start, but his struggles were compounded by equally slow beginnings from Tucker and Teoscar Hernández, plus Mookie Betts being on the injured list. Also, the Dodgers are cognizant of Ohtani returning to the mound and the several adjustments — in preparation and recovery — that play into that.
“You could argue there’s more focus on the pitching and there’s more demand on the pitching with what we’re asking of him,” Roberts said. “So there has to be some cuts into some of the bandwidth, the production on the offensive side. That’s just common sense.”
Ohtani and the Dodgers will continue exploring the most effective rest patterns. That could include stacking his starts ahead of scheduled team off days, adding additional days rest during certain turns through the rotation, or occasionally taking him out of the lineup when he pitches. Even with a team off day on Thursday, the Dodgers kept the rotation on turn this week. The club did not want Tyler Glasnow, who logged 105 pitches in his previous start, to take the mound on traditional rest. That means Ohtani will start Tuesday at home against the Miami Marlins. It is not yet known if he will also be in the lineup.
Ohtani has been agreeable to how the Dodgers have used him, saying he’ll always let the manager have the final say.
“He’s very receptive to how he’s managed,” Roberts said. “When a decision is made, he’s all on board. But given to his own thoughts and devices, he’s going to want to take every at-bat, pitch, everything.”
Given his extraordinary talent, it’s hard for the Dodgers not to feel the same way. But nothing is more critical than keeping their two-way phenom healthy for the season. The club will be meticulous in doing whatever they can to ensure that’s the case. The organization will be patient, whether it’s with his overall usage or a couple of down weeks at the plate.
As Ohtani showed Sunday, it’s just a matter of time before he bounces back.