LOS ANGELES – Shohei Ohtani is about to realize his childhood dream of playing in important games. There’s nothing bigger than the Major League Baseball playoffs.
And the Japanese superstar isn’t nervous.
“I think the excitement of that is greater than anything else that I could possibly feel,” he said Friday through an interpreter.
Ohtani is getting his first chance on the October playoff stage with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who open the National League Division Series on Saturday against the rival San Diego Padres. He spent the last six years with the Los Angeles Angels, who never had a winning record or made the postseason during his tenure.
Ohtani struck out then-Angels teammate Mike Trout to help Japan win the World Baseball Classic last year. He was a pitching and hitting star in Japan before coming to MLB. Now, fans on both sides of the Pacific are clamoring to see what else the record-setting superstar can do in October.
“I think it’s more for us as fans to see that it’s something that’s new to him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “If there’s any person that I feel that’s going to be able to handle this, it’s certainly Shohei.”
Ohtani has proven he can change a game with his bat or his foot speed. If he draws a walk, he can steal a base (he had 59 in the regular season). He can smash home runs (54) or score from first.
“He has shown the ability in this last month to use the whole field, to get a hit if he needs to,” Roberts said. “A crazy talented ball player.”
Ohtani prepared for the best-of-five NLDS by hitting in some simulated games during the Dodgers’ five days off — their reward for having baseball’s best record at 98-64.
“I’m doing the best I can to make sure that my first at-bat is really good,” he said. “This week we did spend time just to make sure that we were taking care of our body with the accumulation of the season, and I think we were able to get some of the kinks out of the way.”
Ohtani signed a record $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers in December. He didn’t pitch this season while rehabbing from a second elbow surgery he had a year ago. That allowed him to focus on his offense, and he exploded, becoming baseball’s first player with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season.
Early in the season, Ohtani admits his strong desire to fit in with his new team affected his hitting.
“Overall, the second half of the regular season, if I look back at it, it’s been pretty good overall,” he said. “I’m just focused on remembering those good feelings that I have when I’m playing well. And the plan is to make sure that I do have those feelings going to the plate this postseason.”
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