LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani's entrance song, "Feeling Good" by Michael Bublé, played at Dodger Stadium in an otherwise quiet moment Wednesday afternoon. Ohtani then emerged from the dugout for a rare session of on-field batting practice, drawing a sarcastic round of applause from his teammates. The Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way phenomenon proceeded to uncork prodigious home runs, one of which clanked off the roof that sits beyond the right-field bleachers.
That Ohtani put himself in that situation, taking batting practice at Dodger Stadium for the first time since joining the team two years ago, might have spoken to the urgency of the moment.
The Dodgers have continued to roll through these playoffs, but Ohtani's hitting slump has merely persisted. Since the wild-card round, he is just 2-for-25 with 12 strikeouts. His seventh-inning RBI single in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday snapped a hitless streak of 15 at-bats, the second longest of his career.
Speaking before Wednesday's workout, Ohtani denied that performing as a two-way player in the postseason has impacted his hitting.
"I don't necessarily think that the pitching has affected my hitting performance," Ohtani said through an interpreter. "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. I don't necessarily think so. It's hard to say."
Ohtani homered twice in two wild-card wins against the Cincinnati Reds but was overwhelmed by a Philadelphia Phillies team featuring three devastating left-handed starting pitchers, going 0-for-13 with seven strikeouts against Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo and Ranger Suarez. The Milwaukee Brewers have tried to follow a similar formula, throwing their best lefty relievers at him as often as possible. Aaron Ashby opened Game 1 of the NLCS, but Ohtani drew a walk. Ohtani later faced another lefty reliever in Jared Koenig and grounded out. In Game 2, he singled off Ashby and struck out against another lefty reliever, Robert Gasser.
Of Ohtani's 40 plate appearances in these playoffs, 22 have come against lefties. He has reached base just three times against them.
"I think it makes sense strategically on their side that they would put a lot of left-handed pitchers against me," Ohtani said. "I'm really all focused on just putting up better-quality at-bats. I think in that sense, that's what I'm always going to be working on."
Ohtani started Game 1 of the NL Division Series on the mound, pitching six innings of three-run ball. He was lined up to pitch Game 1 or 2 of the NLCS -- with Game 2 preferable because an off day would follow him filling two roles -- but has instead been held back to Game 4. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the decision had more to do with lining Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto up to potentially pitch twice in the series than it did with helping Ohtani shake a hitting slump.
Roberts called Ohtani's at-bats in Milwaukee "fantastic," even though he went just 1-for-7.
"I think he's controlling the strike zone, I think he's still staying aggressive when he gets his pitch," Roberts said. "There was a lineout to right field and there was three walks. There was the base hit in a run-scoring opportunity. Those are positives for me."
Ohtani chartered the 50/50 club in his first season with the Dodgers in 2024 and was just as impactful an offensive player when transitioning back to pitching in 2025, slashing .282/.392/.622 with 55 home runs and 20 stolen bases. A fourth MVP in five years is a given. On the 14 days he also pitched, though, Ohtani's slash line took a slight dip to .222/.323/.556. Asked whether he has found himself needing to get reacclimated to a two-way role, Ohtani again demurred.
"I know I might sound like I'm saying the same answer again," he said, "but yeah, I don't really necessarily think it has really affected. I do feel like I was able to just have a pretty good season offensively, being able to have quality at-bats throughout the season. It's hard to say. But yeah, same answer as before."