Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman effectively declared the inevitable resurgence of shohei ohtani, signaling to the rest of Major League Baseball that containing the superstar is a temporary proposition. Ohtani‘s explosive performance in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series – a dominant pitching outing paired with a historic three-home run game – underscored his potential to shift postseason momentum at any moment.
Friedman’s assessment comes as Ohtani appeared to break out of a perceived slump during the NLCS, culminating in a performance that propelled the Dodgers to their second consecutive world Series berth.The warning to opposing teams isn’t about a change in strategy, but a recognition of Ohtani’s relentless self-expectation adn the statistical anomalies inherent in a short postseason. “[The Brewers] had [contained him], and they did a great job of it,” Friedman told MLB.com. “No one puts more pressure on themselves than Shohei. For him to break out like this, each day we were expecting it.”
Prior to his Game 4 explosion, Ohtani participated in an unusual on-field batting practice session at Dodger Stadium the day before Game 3, launching home run after home run, according to attendees.This proactive approach signaled Ohtani’s commitment to regaining his timing and confidence.
Ohtani himself downplayed the notion of a slump, attributing any perceived underperformance to the limited sample size of the postseason. “I felt like the last couple days I felt pretty good at the plate,” Ohtani said after the Dodgers clinched their World Series berth. “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.”
In six innings on the mound, Ohtani yielded only two hits and zero earned runs. His three home runs came in three at-bats, a display of power that served notice to the league as the Dodgers advance.
