Can Mets follow Padres blueprint to neutralize Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani?
LOS ANGELES – Shohei Ohtani jumped through the puddles of Budweiser and plumes of cigar smoke that polluted the Dodgers clubhouse. He smiled as he emerged from the bacchanal soaked but elated as the team celebrated its victory over the Padres in the National League Division Series. As he left the room, Ohtani passed by the man who signed him to a $700 million contract last winter specifically to throw these types of parties.
“You know,” owner Mark Walter told vice president of baseball development Raúl Ibañez, “that’s the first playoff series win for Shohei.”
Ohtani is never an afterthought, but Game 5 marked the rare occasion where he wasn’t a main character. Yoshinobu Yamamoto silenced San Diego for five innings. Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández provided the biggest swings. Ohtani never reached base. It was a quiet end to a postseason that opened with a bang for Ohtani.
The Dodgers might not have advanced to face the Mets in the National League Championship Series without Ohtani’s three-run shot against San Diego in Game 1. The home run revitalized the club after Yamamoto San Diego spotted an early lead. Over the next four games, San Diego kept him from hitting balls over the fence and destroying the bases. Ohtani went 2-for-15 with eight strikeouts after Game 1.
Shohei Ohtani struggled after Game 1 when he homered. (Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn Images)
Ohtani’s relative cold streak did not sink the club. Mookie Betts came alive with home runs in Game 3 and Game 4. Teoscar Hernández posted an OPS of 1.067. Kiké Hernandez strengthened his reputation as an October favorite. The proceeds were enough to put San Diego aside.
“Twenty-six guys are going to win,” Betts said. “Not just Ohtani. Not just Mookie. Not just Yamamoto. It will cost us all. We have shown that we have a well-composed team.”
Yet their biggest star will always be Ohtani. The Dodgers survived a five-game battle with San Diego, but did not emerge unscathed. Freddie Freeman still has a sprained ankle. Miguel Rojas is limited by a groin injury. The group could use Ohtani to repeat his performance in the final two weeks of the season, when he hit .547 with seven home runs and 11 stolen bases.
Ohtani stole 59 bags in the regular season and none in the NLDS, partly because the Padres kept him off the bases. Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged that against San Diego, Ohtani chased pitches “outside the strike zone more than he (had) in the last, you name it, six to eight weeks.” Roberts suggested that trend might not continue against the Mets, especially since the Mets don’t employ pitchers like Padres right-handed starter Yu Darvish and left-handed reliever Tanner Scott.
Darvish struck out Ohtani six times in six at-bats spanning Game 2 and Game 5. The Padres neutralized Ohtani late in games with Scott. Ohtani faced Scott four times. He struck every time. The pitchers presented a blueprint for the confrontation with Ohtani. The challenge for the Mets will determine whether any of their pitchers can follow him.
Darvish confused Ohtani. Scott overwhelmed him. For the Mets, only one path seems likely in this series.
Part of the issue concerns personnel. The Mets had just two left-handed relievers in the NLDS against Philadelphia. David Peterson is a converted starter who works longer assignments; he will likely follow Kodai Senga in Game 1. The other lefty, Danny Young, did not appear against the Phillies. His fastball reaches 90 miles per hour – a far cry from Scott’s higher-octane arsenal.
Rival evaluators believe pitchers can disarm Ohtani by firing fastballs up and in. That’s considered a gap that Ohtani hasn’t closed yet. Still, reaching that location can be dangerous. Misses could leak across the plate, into the kind of place where Ohtani could send them into orbit. Scott didn’t miss against Ohtani. He pumped fastballs for strikes and ultimately lured him out of the strike zone with high-90s heat.
The Mets don’t have a reliever on staff who can mirror Scott. But their starters were able to take some cues from Darvish. Dodgers officials view the Mets’ starting rotation as a strength of their opponents, especially the left-handed duo of Game 2 starter Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana, who will start Game 3 or Game 4.
No pitcher can truly emulate Darvish, who throws so many variations of so many different pitches that his arsenal could stretch into double figures. But Manaea throws six pitches. Quintana rolls five. They could try to mix and match to lure Ohtani, like Darvish did.
Roberts noted that Ohtani idolized Darvish in his youth. It was possible, the manager said, that this added a layer of nerves to Ohtani’s at-bats. That dynamic won’t exist against the Mets.
“So suffice it to say,” Roberts said, “I’m glad we’re rid of Yu Darvish and we can move on a little bit.”
(Top photo of Shohei Ohtani bowing out in the NLDS: Harry How / Getty Images)
