Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani breaks yearly superstition with unseen twist at Dodger Stadium originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are firing on all cylinders right now, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. They’ve seemingly breezed through the playoffs, with the only blemish being a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. The team is finding different ways to win and finally looks like the dominant force many expected them to be all season.
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“This is a very complete Dodger unit out there with a mission. This team, regardless of all the hype around them, understands their business and puts the fame aside and they come to the field to play. They don’t pay attention to anything else,” Pedro Martinez wrote.
What makes their run even more impressive is that the Dodgers are winning despite superstar Shohei Ohtani not playing anywhere near his usual level.
“Ohtani was the focus of every plan of attack for the Philadelphia Phillies, who deployed one left-handed pitcher after another in the National League Division Series. Ohtani had one hit and struck out nine times in 18 at-bats, with 16 of his 20 plate appearances coming against lefties,” The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya wrote.
Ohtani has made it clear that his struggles at the plate aren’t related to pitching this postseason.
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“I don’t necessarily think that the pitching has affected my hitting performance,” Ohtani said. “Just on the pitching side, as long as I control what I can control, I feel pretty good about putting up results. On the hitting side, just the stance, the mechanics, that’s something that I do — it’s a constant work in progress.”
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On Wednesday, Ohtani decided to shake things up by taking batting practice for the first time this season.
“Shohei Ohtani is taking batting practice on the field for the first time all season,” Ardaya posted.
Ohtani is clearly doing whatever it takes to rediscover his true form. He needs to find it quickly — with the World Series on the line, the Dodgers can’t afford for their superstar to keep struggling.
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The team is playing exceptionally well right now, but if they hit a rough patch, they’ll need Ohtani to step up. Perhaps this new routine could be the key to a strong finish to their playoff run.
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