Shohei Ohtani Saving His Best Baseball for October's MLB Playoffs

Sometime a little after sunset last Sept. 19, my daughter’s seventh grade social studies teacher walked into his classroom to meet the parents of his eighth period students and greeted us in the only fashion possible.

“Ohtani just went 50/50,” he said.

We’d have to wait to get home to find out just how resoundingly Shohei Ohtani became the first 50 homer/50 steals player in baseball history — by going 6-for-6 with three homers, 10 RBIs and two thefts for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Miami Marlins. Frankly, we should have talked about that instead of the social studies syllabus.

Ten days shy of one year later, Ohtani remains awesome, if slightly less gobsmackingly so.

Part of that is because any follow-up to an unprecedented season is guaranteed to be a LITTLE less statistically spectacular. With an NL-leading 1.002 OPS and 48 homers (second-most in the NL, one behind Kyle Schwarber) Ohtani is the odds-on favorite to win his fourth MVP award, which will be more than anyone in history except Barry Bonds.

But Ohtani’s 6.3 WAR, per Baseball-Reference, is nearly three wins lower than last season. His OPS is more than 30 points lower than his 2024 mark while his 17 stolen bases are 42 fewer than his big league-leading total a year ago.

The Dodgers’ inexplicable malaise has also factored into the perception of Ohtani’s season. Los Angeles, which loaded up for a run at a repeat title by signing every free agent this side of Roger Pavlik over the winter, is just 80-64 and one game ahead of the San Diego Padres in the NL West. The reigning champs are likely bound to open the postseason in a wild card series even if they win the division.

But maybe Ohtani is saving his encore for the playoffs, when he might be the most important pitcher for the Dodgers.

Ohtani’s offensive numbers are down a shade because he is back to being the modern day Babe Ruth. The 31-year-old, who was limited to designated hitter duties last season as he recovered from his second Tommy John surgery, has a 3.75 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP while striking out 49 batters in 36 innings covering 12 starts. Those are pretty good mound numbers for anyone, never mind someone about to reach 50 homers for the second straight season.

Has Ohtani’s gradual ramp up — he’s completed five innings just once — been a way for the Dodgers to save his innings for the postseason and the task of handling a usual starter’s workload? Or, with most members of the Dodgers’ injury-wracked rotation finally at something resembling decent health, will he be utilized as a game-ending weapon out of the bullpen, as pitching coach Mark Prior hinted last month?

One gets the idea that Ohtani and his handlers will get the final word in such a decision. But it’s worth noting Dodgers manager Dave Roberts tasked starters Julio Urias and Walker Buehler with getting the championship-clinching outs in the World Series in 2020 and 2024.

Those guys were pretty good. They’re not Ohtani, still searching for a worthy encore to an unprecedented season — and something the rest of us can talk about to pass the time at parent/teacher conferences in early November.