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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — Despite far better numbers hitting with men on base this postseason, Shohei Ohtani won’t be moved down in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday.
Ohtani is 0-for-19 with the bases empty but 6-for-8 with men on while batting leadoff during the playoffs.
“It’s just funny how things change, where there was a lot of concern about Shohei not being able to get hits with the runners in scoring position — and now we’re all trying to find ways … to get guys on base so he can hit, right?” Roberts said. “I kind of find that comical, a little bit.”
Neither Roberts nor Ohtani thinks there’s much to the slugger’s splits at the plate other than perhaps him chasing pitches a little more here or there, especially against good lefties like Sean Manaea of the Mets and Tanner Scott of the Padres. Roberts also acknowledged his leadoff man did take some bad swings against San Diego right-hander Yu Darvish in the NL Division Series.
“I was surprised with Darvish,” Roberts said. “I was surprised that he expanded versus Darvish.”
Added Ohtani through the team interpreter: “Regardless of however they are pitching to me, my plan is to stay with the same approach, as much as possible and not really be too focused on how they attack me. … If I’m feeling good and the results aren’t there, then I’m not too concerned because there’s luck involved.”
According to ESPN Research, Ohtani’s chase rate is only slightly up from the regular season (26.6%) to the postseason (27.1).
He was 2-for-4 in the Dodgers’ 9-0 Game 1 win, but 0-for-3 in the 7-3 Game 2 loss. Overall, he’s 6-for-27 (.222) with five walks in the first postseason appearance of his career. During the regular season, Ohtani hit .308 with men on and .311 with the bases empty.
Ohtani said for the most part he’s feeling good at the plate but once in a while a “reset” is in order.
“If there’s a situation where I don’t feel good at the plate and I’m not doing well, or it’s not leading to good results, then it’s something that I look into to make sure physically, mechanically, making sure that that’s all fine-tuned,” he said. “I do feel OK at the plate. I do feel like I should recall back to the times when I feel good and perhaps incorporate that into it.”
Roberts is confident Ohtani will find his groove again as soon as Game 3 on Wednesday at Citi Field.
“I think it’s isolated,” he said. “There have been times that he has to reset as all hitters do. Sometimes certain pitchers sort of kind of trigger bad habits. And you’ve got to identify that to then reset….But to think that I’m going to move Shohei to the 4 or the 3, that’s just not going to happen.”
Ohtani hit leadoff in 90 games this season and second in 69 — the only two positions in the order he’s hit this year.
Roberts also indicated he expects first baseman Freddie Freeman to play Wednesday, as he has in the first two games, as he continues to nurse an ankle injury.
“It’s a day-to-day conversation,” Roberts said, while acknowledging the colder weather in New York doesn’t help Freeman’s ankle. “I just don’t see any world that he doesn’t start a playoff game in the NLCS. But, again, if he can’t do it, that’s very telling.”