Padres coy about how they plan to stop Shohei Ohtani: ‘I’m not telling you’
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani talks about playing in the MLB postseason for the first time. (Mark Potts / Los Angeles Times)
The first laugh line of this National League Division Series came Friday afternoon, when San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt was asked how his club planned to attack Shohei Ohtani.
“I’m not telling you,” Shildt responded with a chuckle, one reciprocated by the mass of media members at his news conference.
“He’s a great player, he’s having an historic year,” Shildt added. “But we feel good about our plan.”
The second moment of levity, on the eve of the best-of-five Dodgers-Padres series, came a few hours later. And this time, it was prompted by Ohtani himself.
The Dodgers’ move to have Yoshinobu Yamamoto start Game 1 of the NLDS against the Padres shows how vulnerable the team is to another early playoff exit.
Sitting in the same chair inside the Dodger Stadium interview room, Ohtani was asked if he was nervous about his first MLB postseason, which began with Game 1 on Saturday night.
To his left, interpreter Will Ireton started to translate the question to Japanese. Before he could finish, Ohtani answered in English.
“Nope,” he said with a quick smirk and a soft shake of his head to more laughter.
Of all the factors that could determine the NLDS, Ohtani’s performance might loom largest. And he played well against the Padres this season. Over 12 games, the likely NL most valuable player batted 15 for 46 (.326) with six doubles, a home run and a .922 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. During last week’s series at Dodger Stadium, Ohtani had go-ahead hits on back-to-back nights, helping the Dodgers to consecutive wins that clinched their division.
The Dodgers are back in the playoffs. But for how long is the big question.
“He’s the most talented hitter on the field,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He can change the game in a lot of different ways.”
Still, Ohtani will be in uncharted territory playing under an October spotlight for the first time. It’s pressure the 30-year-old slugger was embracing Friday, calling his first postseason appearance a “childhood dream” and one he’d been anxiously awaiting since arriving from Japan in 2018.
“The excitement of [playoff baseball] is greater than anything else that I could possibly feel,” Ohtani said through Ireton.
Nerves included, apparently.
“If there’s any person that I feel that’s going to be able to handle this, it’s certainly Shohei,” Roberts echoed. “I think he just brings a next-level megastar to our ballclub.”
Ohtani should get chances to produce in the NLDS, with Shildt indicating that the Padres have no plans to simply pitch around him.
“Yeah, you want to take Shohei out of the equation,” Shildt said. “But … I’m not a guy that likes to run from competition a whole lot. We clearly tip our hat, and he’s clearly a very exceptional player. But I believe in our guys too.”
“We feel confident that we have the ability to get Ohtani out,” Shildt added.
San Diego’s Game 1 starter, spring acquisition Dylan Cease, will get the first crack at that challenge. While Cease had held Ohtani to four hits in 15 at-bats coming into Game 1, two of those knocks were home runs, and during the regular season Ohtani reached base in three of six plate appearances against the hard-throwing right-hander, including a walk and a double in the Dodgers’ Sept. 25 win.
“You’ve got to mix it up and do the best you can to not leave it over the heart of the plate, really,” Cease said. “I don’t want to get into too many details on anything, but he’s obviously a great hitter. So I’m going to go in with a high level of focus and just attack.”
The Padres’ real advantage against Ohtani figures to come from their left-handed-heavy bullpen. Trade deadline addition Tanner Scott has been one of the tougher pitchers for Ohtani in his career, holding him to a one-for-nine mark with a walk in 10 plate appearances coming into Game 1. San Diego has three other southpaws to throw at the left-handed slugger, including Wandy Peralta (two for seven entering Game 1), Adrian Morejon (three for four with a home run) and Yuki Matsui (three for five).
“A lot of times, we [will] have a lefty on Ohtani, which we prefer,” Shildt said, referencing Ohtani’s .288 batting average and .867 OPS against left-handers during the regular season, compared to his .322 average and 1.128 OPS against right-hander. “The numbers bear that out, and we like our lefties.”
A common theme of the Dodgers’ recent postseason failings has been high-powered lineups sputtering in surprise playoff eliminations.
The one thing Shildt and Cease said is that the Padres would be wary of pitching too cautiously to Ohtani. After all, the Dodgers were expected to have at least one former MVP following him in the batting order in Mookie Betts, and potentially another if Freddie Freeman recovered from his sprained ankle in time for Game 1 (which Roberts expected as of Friday afternoon).
“If you pitch timidly and you walk guys or you fall behind, you’re really just setting yourself up for failure,” Cease said. “At the end of the day, it’s a challenge and it’s difficult, but you’ve got to kind of rise to the occasion and meet it.”
As Ohtani begins his first postseason — seven years, 860 games and more than 3,000 at-bats after he arrived in the majors — the same also applies to him.
“I’m very thankful for the people who supported me over the years,” Ohtani said. “And really I just want to return the favor by making sure that I’m enjoying and focusing on the game.”
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