Shohei Ohtani Is Exactly Who Dodgers Need On Mound In Game 4
Heading into Game 4 of the World Series, if there’s any baseball player in the world — actually, in the history of the sport — who wouldn’t be too dragged down by an 18-inning marathon the night prior, it would be Los Angeles Dodgers megastar Shohei Ohtani, who oftentimes plays more like an alien from another galaxy than a human being.
That’s why the Dodgers are fortunate that it’s Ohtani on the mound for Game 4, with LA facing an opportunity to go up 3-1 in the series and shove the Toronto Blue Jays’ backs up against the wall.
It might sound crazy to suggest that Ohtani, who reached base nine times on Monday night in the 18-inning classic, is the best-case scenario to pitch Game 4 for the Dodgers.
After all, Ohtani must be emotionally and physically spent after such a productive Game 3, no? He did hit two home runs (including to tie the game in the seventh inning), which means his back might be tired from carrying the Dodgers’ offense on Monday.
But to assume that Ohtani is anywhere close to being burnt out is to greatly underestimate his motor. To gain a further understanding of how different Ohtani is built, take a gander at Shohei joking around with the brevity and joy of a Little League star in the locker room following LA’s victory on Monday after more than six hours of high-intensity baseball:
When other MLB players are exhausted, Ohtani is just warming up. And while the World Series is — if sports can be described as “serious” — the most serious event on the world baseball calendar, this is all just fun and games to Ohtani.
When you’re approaching the game with this much ease, and with this much joy, there’s less stress and fatigue. This is part of Ohtani’s greatness — his immense talent gives him the room needed to see the game for what it fundamentally is — just a game — allowing Ohtani to approach every at-bat and every pitch of his own with an even-keeled mentality that pushes him even further ahead of his peers, who are all trying really, really hard.
Ohtani’s propensity for clutch hitting stems from the above. Whereas other “adult” ballplayers might tense up or over-focus in the batter’s box in big moments, Ohtani maintains a kid’s approach to the game, freeing him from any tension and allowing him to play fully relaxed.
This is the kind of player who will thrive on the day following an exhausting, 18-inning ordeal. Even though Ohtani might have spent as much energy on Monday as anyone else wearing a Dodgers or Blue Jays uniform, he still likely has more to give than that same group of players less than 18 hours later.