Shohei Ohtani was struggling to produce in the postseason until it mattered most, putting together a legendary three home run performance in a game in which he also tossed six scoreless innings.

However, beforehand, Ohtani looked like the version of himself that showed up in the Dodgers’ 4-1 World Series win over the Yankees last season. While the Dodgers cruised to a relatively comfortable victory over the Yankees, Ohtani didn’t impress at the plate. The NL MVP was just 2-for-19 with one double, two walks and five strikeouts.

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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hopes to see a much more productive Ohtani in the World Series this time around.

“I hope it’s completely different for Shohei,” Roberts told the media Thursday ahead of the World Series. “Certainly having him healthy going in is a great thing. I think him kind of feeding off that last game is a good thing. Last year, it was just more of just being able to post and stand in the batter’s box and do whatever he could to sort of help us, where I think this year he’s equipped to have a big series.”

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In this year’s playoffs, Ohtani has struck out at a disproportionately high rate compared to his regular season performance. Ohtani has struck out on over 41 percent of his at-bats in the playoffs compared to a 31 percent rate in the regular season.

As the Blue Jays are sure to approach pitching to Ohtani with caution, Roberts added that he hopes to see more discipline from Ohtani going forward.

“He’s just going to have to be smart and disciplined because they’re going to pitch him careful, and he’s just got to be smart, and if he’s disciplined, then it should bode well for him and for all of us,” Roberts said.

Regardless of how Ohtani has performed over the past few weeks, Roberts said that opponents are always aware of his ability to impact the game with a single swing.

“You feel Shohei when he’s in the hole, let alone on deck or in the batter’s box,” Roberts said. “You feel it. He’s always looming. Whether he’s swinging the bat well or not, he has the ability to impact the game, so you feel it.”

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