LOS ANGELES — There haven’t been many times during Shohei Ohtani’s eight-year MLB career when the greatness of the undisputed best player in the world has been questioned. But given Ohtani’s struggles at the plate this postseason — he was 6-for-38 entering Game 4 on Friday — questions about his effectiveness now that he’s back to pitching and hitting full-time had begun to surface.
When asked this week if pitching has started to affect his prodigious offense, leading to a dip in production, the three-time MVP didn’t seem thrilled with the questions, even though, considering his .158 average with two home runs, they had merit. And when Ohtani took batting practice this week in L.A., which he almost never does, it became clear that he felt the need to shake things up.
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In Game 4 of the NLCS, Ohtani had the look of a man with something to prove. And as it turned out, Game 4 — in which the Dodgers defeated the Brewers 5-1 to advance to the World Series — wasn’t just about the Dodgers winning the NL pennant. They were well on their way to doing that already, leading the series 3-0.
No, this game was about something more. This was Ohtani’s chance to remind everyone watching that no baseball player in this world or the next is better than him. And he did it in a way that only he could: By putting together one of the greatest postseason performances in MLB history, hitting three home runs and tossing six shutout innings in the Dodgers’ sweep-clinching victory over the Brewers.
“He woke up this morning to people calling him out for how poorly he had played in the [NLCS], and 12 hours later, he’s standing on the podium as the MVP,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “That says everything we need to know about him.”
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The first task for Ohtani in Game 4 was to continue the Dodgers’ trend of elite starting pitching. It was evident from the first frame that Ohtani was locked in on the mound, as his stuff looked electric against the middle of the Brewers’ lineup.
After walking leadoff man Brice Turang, the Dodgers’ right-hander and designated hitter blew a 100-mph fastball past Jackson Chourio for his first strikeout. He then struck out the next batter, Christian Yelich, on a 100-mph fastball painted on the outside corner. Finally, Ohtani ended the frame by getting William Contreras to swing through a sweeper for strikeout number three.
And then, having set the tone on the mound, it was time for Ohtani to make his presence felt at the plate. His first big swing of the night came in leading off the bottom of the first, as he unloaded on a hanging 3-2 curveball from José Quintana, depositing it deep into the right-field bleachers and giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. With that, Ohtani became the first pitcher in MLB history to hit a leadoff home run in the postseason.
“I felt like the last couple days, I felt pretty good at the plate,” Ohtani said afterward of his postseason slump. “And just because of the postseason, the sample size, the lack of — it’s just that I think the lack of performance really skews in this short period of time.”
Having given himself and the Dodgers some breathing room, Ohtani, the pitcher, then settled in. Following his dominance in the first inning, his comfort with his full arsenal was on display in the next few frames. Because while Ohtani has a triple-digit fastball in his back pocket that he can use to blow by hitters, he also relied on his sweeper, cutter and signature splitter to keep Milwaukee’s hitters off-balance.
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On the night, the Dodgers’ starter induced 19 swing-and-misses, including five with his splitter. All five of those splitter whiffs came on strikeouts. It was arguably the best that pitch has looked during Ohtani’s time as a Dodger.
“The Phillies [outing], he had a couple good ones in there,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said of the splitter. “But when he threw that first one to Contreras, [we] kind of knew — all right, we can start leaning on this, get them off the fastball. I think it just opened up everything else.”
Having drawn a walk in the bottom of the second, Ohtani came back to the plate in the fourth with his confidence growing. Brewers rookie Chad Patrick was one of the best relievers in baseball this postseason, and he threw four quality innings in this contest, but even he couldn’t escape the greatness of Ohtani.
On an 89.3-mph cutter from Patrick, the Dodgers’ superstar crushed a titanic, 469-foot blast off the roof of the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium, and this time, he took a little extra time to admire the swing that sent the home crowd into a complete frenzy.
A historic night deserves a historic homer, and Ohtani’s fourth-inning blast was exactly that. It was just the third time in the history of Dodger Stadium that a player had hit a home run over the right-field pavilion, the others being Kyle Schwarber and Willie Stargell, who accomplished the feat twice in his career. When we look back on this night, that second home run will likely be the most memorable.
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“The one that went out of the stadium kind of took everybody’s breath away,” shortstop Mookie Betts said afterward. “Other than that, it’s just Shohei being Shohei.”
With Ohtani’s two moon shots having loudly announced him as a force to be reckoned with, it was a reminder that his struggling through a series is more good fortune for the other team than anything else — and fortune that can change at any time. Just a day prior, Brewers manager Pat Murphy had acknowledged as much.
“Shohei’s in a little spell here where he’s not barrelling balls like he has,” Murphy said after Game 3. “But he’s still for us a tremendously dangerous, dangerous hitter. You can’t forget that. These great ones, they can turn it on like that.”
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Back on the mound in the top of the fifth, Ohtani cruised through a Brewers lineup that had no answers for his electric stuff. And he showed that he was feeling it, giving a yell and fist pump after striking out both Caleb Durbin and Blake Perkins to end the frame. Then he came back out and struck out the first two batters in the sixth inning.
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He finished his night going six shutout innings, surrendering just two hits and three walks while striking out 10. It was Ohtani’s first start with 10 or more strikeouts since June 27, 2023.
“I just don’t know how he handles the expectations, because a lot of times, when you have expectations like he has, they’re just unattainable, and you just never realize them,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Certainly the way he was struggling this postseason, and not to let it affect him and keep his psyche [and] his confidence the same is really impressive.”
Said Betts: “You could call it surprising, I guess. I don’t know. It’s kind of like expectation — for only him.”
Ohtani’s night on the mound ended after he surrendered two baserunners to begin the seventh frame. But he wasn’t quite finished at the plate. With Alex Vesia having gotten out of the top of the seventh unscathed, Ohtani came back up in the bottom of the inning with the Dodgers holding a comfortable 4-0 lead.
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Unlike on his first two homers, this time, against All-Star closer Trevor Megill, Ohtani fell behind in the count 1-2. No matter. He drove a 98.9-mph fastball 427 feet into the left-field seats to put the finishing touches on his incredible, unforgettable night.
“There were times during the postseason where Teo [Hernández] and Mookie picked me up,” Ohtani said afterward. “And this time around, it was my turn to be able to perform.”
Said Murphy after his team was eliminated: “We were part of tonight — an iconic, maybe the best individual performance ever in a postseason game. I don’t think anybody can argue with that. A guy punches out 10 and hits three homers.”
Indeed, if Ohtani had just hit three home runs in Game 4, that would have been an amazing accomplishment. If he had merely struck out 10 batters over six shutout innings, that would have been an incredible performance. But what makes Ohtani the undisputed best player walking the face of the Earth — and the NLCS MVP — is that he can do both.
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Not only that, but his ability to rise to the occasion in the biggest moments, in addition to his unbelievable talent, separates him from the pack.
“What he did on the mound, what he did at the bat, he created a lot of memories for a lot of people [tonight],” Roberts said. “So for us to have a game-clinching — to do it in a game-clinching game at home, wins the NLCS MVP, pretty special. I’m just happy to be able to go along for the ride.”
Said third baseman Max Muncy: “I feel truly blessed to be able to be on the field for that performance tonight.”
The MLB postseason has a way of lending itself to big moments, and on Friday at Dodger Stadium, in an NL-pennant clinching game, baseball’s biggest star shined the brightest. From now on, when the question is raised about the best single-game performance ever, it will not only be an easy one to answer but also something that will likely never happen again:
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The Ohtani Game.
