LOS ANGELES — As far as trending topics go, there is no greater one for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts than Shohei Ohtani.
Whether it’s a standout pitching performance from a starter, or a rough day for the bullpen, there is an Ohtani question waiting for Roberts at some point. As Mookie Betts continues his blistering hot start amid a position change, or Teoscar Hernandez settles into life with his new team, there is always an inquiry about the one player who primarily will swing the bat this season.
When you have $700 million committed to you, the queries no doubt will come early, late and often. And to Roberts’ credit, he will call it like he sees it.
When asked about Ohtani’s seemingly anxious approach at the plate this week with runners in scoring position, Roberts admitted, “We have to temper that back.”
When Ohtani’s plate appearances during the Freeway Series looked less than engaged, as he was facing his former team no less, Roberts could have shrugged it off. Yet he acknowledged it during the opening homestand of the season: “It just didn’t look right.”
The sign of the great ones in baseball is the ability to emerge from downturns faster than others. Ohtani’s ability to regain his top form might come even quicker than most.
Take the three times Tuesday that Ohtani came to the plate with a runner in scoring position and he swung at the first pitch each time. A pair of ground balls and a fly out ensued.
“Shohei is obviously a very aggressive hitter, but he can do a better job of getting into a count,” Roberts said. “Right now, he’s been super aggressive, more than he’s ever been with runners in scoring position.”
A mere 14 hours later, Ohtani singled in his first at-bat Wednesday against the Nationals on a blistering line drive to right field that registered 107.9 mph off the bat. He singled to right field again in the sixth inning on a 106.7-mph rocket.
In the eighth inning, with the Dodgers in need of base runners, Ohtani singled one more time, this time to center field. He then stole second base without a throw, giving him four steals in four attempts this season.
The three-hit game was Ohtani’s third of the season and second on the current homestand. He has 10 multi-hit games of the 21 total games he has played.
Ohtani was not able to address his 1-for-19 (.053) start with runners in scoring position, but that was on his teammates, who had a combined two hits on the day when the Dodgers fell 2-0 to the Washington Nationals. They were shut out for the first time this season.
Ohtani has gone without a hit only three times this season. He went 0 for 3 on April 2 against the San Francisco Giants and the following day he hit his first home run in a Dodgers uniform. On Saturday, he went 0 for 2 in five plate appearances before going 7 for 16 over the next four games, although he has not driven in a run in that stretch.
Up next is a rare matchup for Ohtani against the New York Mets, a team he has played just five games against, with all of those coming in the past two seasons. He reached base eight times in 14 trips to the plate over three games against the Mets last season with two steals.
The only team he has seen less in his career is the Milwaukee Brewers (three games).
Ohtani declined a request to speak postgame Wednesday while Roberts lauded his designated hitter’s effort. While Roberts has addressed Ohtani’s difficult moments, he has been far more effusive with praise.
“Shohei was fantastic,” Roberts said after the defeat. “I thought he did a great job. We saw some good arms today and he did a great job of controlling the strike zone. When he got a pitch in the strike zone, he hit it hard. If he can continue to do that, as good as he is, I think that he will be even better.”
That is high praise considering Ohtani entered the off day tied for the major-league lead with 31 hits and had an MLB-best 10 doubles. Through three weeks, plus a pair of early games at South Korea, Ohtani is batting .360 with a 1.040 OPS that was 10th best in baseball.
But Ohtani agrees there is a higher level to reach, especially when it comes to the team’s overall offensive effort. When he last spoke to the media, it was Friday after he hit his 175th career home run to tie Hideki Matsui for the most ever by a Japanese-born player.
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In the celebration of that moment, Otani was asked about the team not cashing in enough opportunities in an 8-7 loss to the Padres.
“We put a lot of runners on base and had a lot of opportunities to score,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “We just couldn’t really poke through, but overall, we put up a good fight.”
Ohtani has shown he can take his game to the next level. He seems to do it daily. And when it happens, Roberts will be ready to call it like he sees it.