Shohei Ohtani Gets an ‘F’ from Local Paper’s Report Card — 5ch Asks: ‘Why Does the League’s #2 Hitter Get an F?’

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The story

In October 2026, the Dodgers were swept 0-4 by the Brewers in the NL Championship Series (NLCS), ending their bid for a third straight World Series title. Right after, the US local paper “California Post” published a report card grading every player, giving Shohei Ohtani the only “F” grade among the batters. The fact that this was lower than Kyle Tucker’s grade and the lightly-used Kim Hye-seong’s “D” grade caused a stir. On 5ch threads, pushback emerged noting that Ohtani was actually near the top of the team in home runs and on-base percentage, along with pointers that the grade reflected only his postseason slump — with plenty of voices questioning the grading criteria itself.

Shohei Ohtani Given the “Lowest Grade” on the Dodgers — Local Paper’s Harsh Review… Why He Ranked Below a Fielder Who Barely Played in the Majors

After the Dodgers were swept 0-4 by the Brewers in the NL Championship Series (NLCS), missing out on a third straight World Series title, the US local paper “California Post” published a report card grading every player this season on the 17th (18th JST).

Pitcher/DH Shohei Ohtani was given the only “F” grade among the batters. So what’s behind it?

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here

What people said

4AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:43
If he goes back to focusing purely on hitting next season and bounces back, I wonder what they'll write then.
7AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:44
Re: #4
These types just keep bashing him until things go their way.
Ichiro dealt with the same kind of thing.
74AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:41
Re: #4
When you're bad you get ripped, when you perform you get praised — that's just how sports works.
8AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:45
Re: #1
Come on, that's pinning way too much blame on him lol
9AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:46
His numbers have been sliding ever since he parted ways with Ippei Mizuhara.

Ippei was right.
10AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:46
It wasn't just Ohtani-san — the whole lineup went cold.
And whenever the pitchers got a lead, it got taken right back.
11AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:46
Well, he's the highest-paid guy on the team, so tough grading comes with the territory.
13AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:50
This year's Dodgers just didn't have any edge overall, huh.
Everyone seemed checked out.
66AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:34
Re: #13
It's like they were just… unfocused, no fighting spirit, all 'eh, we'll be fine~'
Basically, they got complacent.
15AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:50
So what grade does Roberts get, huh (´・ω・`)
17AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:51
Keep it up and he might just walk — lose a global superstar like him and nobody's gonna care about the Dodgers anymore.
18AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:53
By the way, Ohtani has the second-highest OPS on the team, right behind Tucker.
20AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:55
Guess Kim Hye-seong's the better player, then.
22AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:55
He only got that home run in the final game because an old teammate ignored the catcher's signs to cut him a break lol
Forget being the team's biggest liability, that's next-level messed up lol
37AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:06
Re: #22
Guess that means he's loved in his own way.
23AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:56
That's just the kind of rag it is — controversy sells better.
But honestly, fair enough, there was a vibe like he was wrecking the team.
25AnonymousOct 19, 2026 01:59
Re: #1
That's Jack Harris, the Ohtani hater, lol
He's working under the NY Post now, right?
28AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:00
Wait, is this 'Category F'???
Oniisan!! (seems to be riffing on Japan's slang 'F-rank' for bottom-tier schools)
29AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:01
Re: #1
Hey, come on lol
Why's this an F?
Freeman had a lower batting average in the playoffs too

The article itself even says: 'Let's be clear — this two-way star was the second-best player in the National League this season.'
30AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:02
Does baseball not fire managers as casually as soccer does?
48AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:16
Re: #30
The MLB record is a guy who got fired after just one game.
31AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:03
Against the Brewers — went hitless in Game 2, but otherwise reached base twice, reached base three times, and hit a 3-run homer. He did his job just fine.
33AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:03
Soto's stats weren't as bad as people make out either. Guerrero Jr. was the one who was actually awful.
At the end of the day, articles like this are just written out of jealousy. It's basically defamation, slander.
34AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:05
Guess the first half of the season just never happened, huh lol
35AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:06
Eh, it's probably their version of Tokyo Sports (a Japanese tabloid known for sensational, unreliable stories).
36AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:06
The stats exposed that he can't come through in the clutch.
Meanwhile the pitching numbers were built on plenty of rest, dodging tough opponents, and even pushing his turn back in the rotation.
38AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:08
The way he celebrated that last home run so hard just looked like a show for the media.
Like, 'See, I hit one! Just use this clip, okay!'
41AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:11
I mean, getting paid 100 billion yen
and putting up stats like that — that's basically fraud.
42AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:12
Why does the NL's #2 hitter get an F grade?
49AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:17
Re: #1
Ohtani's batting stats this year, and this is an F.

Team rankings
Batting average: .275 (2nd 🥈)
Hits: 144 (2nd 🥈)
Home runs: 30 (1st 🥇)
RBI: 81 (2nd 🥈)
Runs: 89 (2nd 🥈)
Walks: 81 (1st 🥇)
Intentional walks: 16 (1st 🥇)
Extra-base hits: 60 (1st 🥇)
Total bases: 268 (1st 🥇)
On-base %: .377 (1st 🥇)
Slugging %: .512 (1st 🥇)
OPS: .889 (1st 🥇)
*Numbers in parentheses are team rank
52AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:22
Re: #49
I genuinely don't remember when he hit any of those — zero impression at all.
That's wild, Ohtani really is a genius.
62AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:30
Re: #49
The F is a postseason-only grade.
50AnonymousOct 19, 2026 02:18
Hogging the DH spot and putting up numbers like that — yeah, fair enough.

Background and Key Points of This Story

The “California Post” runs an annual feature grading every player report-card style after the season ends — a publication that tends to factor in not just stats but also expectations and contract size. Since Ohtani is on a 10-year, $700 million contract, the bar tends to be set higher for him than for other players. As pointed out in the thread, the F grade appears to reflect mainly his postseason batting slump (during the NLCS elimination) rather than the season as a whole — his regular-season numbers (30 home runs, an .889 OPS, and so on) actually ranked near the top of the team. Conflating the two can easily lead to the misreading that “Ohtani struggled all season.” The thread also floated speculation that the article’s writer is critical of Ohtani, but that’s speculation from 5ch, not a fact confirmed within the article itself.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku+) thread “[MLB] Shohei Ohtani Given the Dodgers’ Lowest Grade of ‘F’ — Local Paper’s Harsh Review… Why He Ranked Below Kyle Tucker and Kim Hye-seong’s ‘D’ Grade.”

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