Column: Shohei Ohtani was supposed to fix the Dodgers’ postseason woes. So why hasn’t he?
SAN DIEGO — This year would be different.
This year would be about winning a postseason series.
This year would be the year the best player in baseball made sure of it.
Or not.
Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers are on the verge of elimination from the National League Division Series. The San Diego Padres beat the Dodgers on Tuesday, 6-5, so the Dodgers either win two straight games or lose in their first round for the third straight season.
Ten years ago, the best player in baseball led a Southern California team into the playoffs. He would be voted his league’s most valuable player, unanimously.
He was Mike Trout, and his Angels would be eliminated in the first round. In his postseason debut, Trout had one hit in three games — a home run — in 12 at-bats. He reached base four times.
Ohtani should be voted his league’s most valuable player, unanimously.
However, in his postseason debut, Ohtani has three hits — including one home run — in 13 at-bats. He has reached base three times.
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He has struck out six times, the most of anyone in the series and twice as often as anyone on the Padres. After stealing 59 bases in the regular season, Ohtani has not stolen a base in the postseason.
Shohei Ohtani breaks his bat on a single during the third inning of Game 3 of the NLDS on Tuesday.
Shohei Ohtani breaks his bat on a single during the third inning of Game 3 of the NLDS on Tuesday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Performance in the summer guarantees nothing in October. Consider Aaron Judge, the likely American League MVP. Judge is one for seven this October. In his previous postseason series, the 2022 AL Championship Series, he went one for 16.
Fair or not, expectations are greater when your team rewards you with a $700-million contract.
When Dodgers owner Mark Walter recruited Ohtani, Walter told him he considered the past decade a failure. Every year in the past decade included a postseason appearance, but only one year ended in a championship.
The underlying message to Ohtani: We want to change this, and we need you to do it.
The Padres have two chances to end the Dodgers’ season this week. If they do, the Dodgers would advance no further than they did last year, when the Angels employed Ohtani.
