Shohei Ohtani continues to struggle in the series

After a good 2025 campaign, but nothing more, the Los Angeles Dodgers eliminated the Reds and one of MLB's best regular-season teams, the Philadelphia Phillies, in their Division Series. The California-based team therefore has good reason to believe it will return to the World Series after winning the big trophy last year.

But the Dodgers also have reason to worry as they approach their ultimate goal, with Shohei Ohtani yet to play up to expectations at the fall dance.

Last year, the Nippon's ordinary performances had been somewhat overlooked due to the fact that Aaron Judge had also had his share of troubles. However, while Judge seemed to have banished his demons during the current playoffs, this was still not the case for Ohtani.

Indeed, the Japanese posted a low batting average of .056 with 9 strikeouts in 18 at-bats against the Phillies in the previous series. Yes, he sometimes gets on the board with bases on balls, as he did three times last night (Monday), but you have to ask more of a $700 million man.

After Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani now has a batting average of .138 with an OPS of .631.

https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/1977898596537074010

Admittedly, the Japanese star could come out of his shell at any moment, as he is also expected to pitch for the Dodgers in a matchup against the Brewers.

But if the Dodgers want to celebrate a second consecutive championship, they probably can't afford for Ohtani to experience the same kind of hibernation as he did during the 2024 Fall Classic.

This content was created with the help of AI.