Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has fallen into a batting slump, and teammate Mookie Betts was reportedly quoted saying, “It’s hard. It’s really hard to watch.” In the game in question, Ohtani went 0-for-4, and the thread cited a grim stat: just 1 RBI in 121 plate appearances since August 21. Reactions on 5ch ranged from sympathy to jokes mocking the cause of the slump, with some posters looking back at his achievements since translator Ippei Mizuhara’s departure, and others arguing he should focus on resetting his conditioning for next season.
What people said
1AnonymousOct 13, 2026 13:55
They were on a 7-game winning streak until he came back — this is really rough
2AnonymousOct 13, 2026 13:55
Shohei Ohtani's Slump… Betts Laments: "It's Hard. It's Really Hard to Watch" — Brutal 0-for-4
He's dead serious, lol ("草"/kusa = internet slang for "lol")
Isn't this supposed to be a joke?
5AnonymousOct 13, 2026 13:56
Seems like Betts has picked up some of that Japanese "wa" spirit (team harmony) from being around Ohtani-san.
9AnonymousOct 13, 2026 13:57
How many more losses until it's over?
11AnonymousOct 13, 2026 13:58
Re: #9
Two more losses and it's over.
18AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:02
He eats nothing but junk food, so his blood turns to sludge and his eyesight goes bad.
19AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:02
Feels like the injuries are what ended it
No matter how much talent and hard work you've built up, it's brutal once you're injury-prone or chronically hurt
Different sport, but it reminds me of guys like former Barcelona B player Hiroki Abe, Kubo, Mitoma, and Tomiyasu
22AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:03
He was angling for catcher's interference again today — kind of killed the mood.
23AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:05
Looks like he's at 1 RBI total in 121 plate appearances since 8/21.
33AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:07
Re: #23
Seriously, just 1 RBI?!
That's got to be unheard of for a DH, right?
24AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:05
Ohtani's probably cackling and scarfing down a hot dog right about now.
25AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:05
Well, last year against the Brewers he struck out 10 and hit 3 homers in the same game, so…
26AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:06
This really makes you realize how great Ippei Mizuhara actually was.
40AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:09
Re: #26
He's won MVP twice even after Ippei left, though.
28AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:06
Did Ohtani-san say anything when Betts was struggling?
30AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:07
Betts himself was hitting around .100 back in June… it's really rough.
34AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:07
Betts seems like the type who'd get sulky if someone said that about him.
35AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:07
Maybe Ohtani should just write off this season and focus on rebuilding his conditioning for next year.
38AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:08
Re: #35
While eating a hot dog? lol
44AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:11
Wow, Ohtani's really that bad off, huh
Normally he'd be the type to say "I'm fine, I'll start hitting tomorrow."
45AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:12
The real question is what Ohtani does once he can't cut it in MLB anymore
Will he move back to Japan, or retire from pro ball and settle down in the US?
48AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:13
Why does he even keep playing?
57AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:17
Re: #48
Because they're paying his salary.
63AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:21
Re: #48
Because someone's pressuring Roberts to keep playing him.
50AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:14
Is Betts even hitting well enough himself to be pitying someone else?
51AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:14
Come on, everyone has an off year now and then.
52AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:15
They said he hit a 140m shot in practice, though
(via the Ohtani Updates account on X)
But once it's a real game, even when he does make contact it's just singles — something's off about him this year.
54AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:17
Re: #52
Richard clears the fence all the time in practice too, you know.
53AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:16
Yamamoto ("Yamamoro") worked his tail off again this year too, but he lost the big one — guess this is where it ends.
56AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:17
The Ohtani faithful ("谷信," short for Otani shinja, i.e. Ohtani stans) are probably irritated at Betts, but even they can't really defend him by saying "but he's still hitting" at this point.
58AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:18
At least nobody's saying "Ohtani, I'm so disappointed in you…" — so he hasn't been given up on yet.
93AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:34
If anything, enjoying a situation like this is exactly who Shohei Ohtani is.
95AnonymousOct 13, 2026 14:36
Re: #93
Uh, he looks pretty irritated to me.
Background and Key Points of This Story
Ohtani has fallen into an extreme batting slump as the season winds down, and the stat cited in the thread — “1 RBI in 121 plate appearances since August 21” — is a historically dismal number for a designated hitter, reflecting a stretch where even singles have been hard to come by. Betts’s comment about it being “hard” is reported not as criticism of Ohtani, but as an honest expression of concern from a teammate. Within the thread, posters speculated on the causes from various angles — the gap between practice and game performance, past injuries, and changes in his routine since Ippei Mizuhara’s departure — but these are all speculation from 5ch users, not anything officially explained by the team or Ohtani himself. Given that he’s won MVP twice even after Mizuhara left, it would also be premature to pin the slump directly on “Ippei dependency.” It’s likewise difficult to judge a player’s future based solely on numbers from a short late-season stretch.
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