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The story
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani batted leadoff as DH against the Cardinals on September 2 (local time) and went 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks/hit-by-pitches. The team also blew a lead and lost 8-6 in extra innings, dropping its second straight game. Ohtani is now homerless over more than 60 plate appearances — his worst stretch since joining the Dodgers. On the 5ch Geisoku+ (entertainment/sports news) board, worried posts like “they should sit him” and “maybe the two-way workload is catching up with him” appeared alongside harsher takes like “he’s the one to blame” and “all he does is strike out, I’m losing interest in watching,” with many comments also comparing his slump to that of other Japanese players like Munetaka Murakami.
[MLB] Cardinals 8-6 Dodgers (Sept. 3 Japan time, Los Angeles)
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani started at home against the Cardinals on the 2nd (the 3rd in Japan time), batting leadoff as DH.
He went 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks/HBPs. The team lost in extra innings, its second straight defeat.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
He's the one dragging the team down lol (戦犯, lit. "war criminal" — forum slang for whoever's to blame for the loss)
The Angels patiently developed him… if it ends like this, his peak sure was short
Hit by pitch ← rare show of annoyance at the opposing pitcher
Strikeout
Strikeout
Strikeout
Strikeout
Ohtani hit by pitch for 2nd straight game, rare display of displeasure — two pitches in a row sail inside, he shakes his head walking to first, huge boos at home
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/e69baf1065ad65db89568027e99f80acaf6c37ad
Even his teammates are annoyed at the guy who struck out 4 times
This is brutal lmaooooooo
Everyone cut him slack back when he was doing the two-way thing, so he should just deal with it now
He stubbornly kept playing through it and now he's picked up some weird habit in his swing…
At this point just making contact is impressive
That's basically Ichiro in his 40s at that point
There's Judge. Though 90% of the people worldwide who know who Judge is are Japanese, 10% are Americans, and the rest is rounding error
Doesn't know how to rest lol
Isn't that just recklessness? He won't even stop stealing bases
But the team scored 6 runs today — it's the reliever who gave up 4 runs in 2 innings who really lost this one
Yamamoto was getting torched today just like Imanaga, so can't really blame him for that
Does he have some kind of grudge against Yamamoto?
He doesn't like it when a fellow Japanese player gets more spotlight than him
Even with the pitching solid, the lineup's just off compared to last year
Forget a three-peat
The Dodgers are gonna get bounced early in the playoffs at this rate
No chance now. The way he's hitting, there's nothing pointing to a dramatic turnaround, and there are already reports he's given up on a pitching comeback too
He might still grab the PCA though
If he comes back to pitch in the last month, wins like 3 games, and hits another 10 homers, he could probably flip it and take the PCA
He single-handedly boosted baseball's popularity — in Japan he turned the WBC into a bigger deal than the World Cup.
Don't go running your mouth about the guy who's done more for Japan than anyone just because he's in a bit of a slump.
By that logic Shigeo Nagashima's contributions were way bigger
• As of 8/1: .244 avg, .929 OPS
• As of 9/1: .215 avg, .847 OPS
• Hitless in 4 straight games (though with 6 walks)
• No home runs in 13 games
• Last 13 games: .085 avg, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .378 OPS
The diehard Murakami stans (谷信 — forum slang for his most devoted fans) were out defending their guy, saying an OPS over .800 is elite so quit complaining
Ohtani's been focused on pitching this year and built up his upper body for it
He's pouring so much energy and stamina into pitching that his hitting's completely fallen apart, and on top of that he keeps pitching without fully recovering, which is causing injuries
Forget two-way — right now he can't even do one thing well
The Dodgers have plenty of pitching depth, so I think a lot of people just want him to nail his job as DH since the pitching's fine
But Ohtani doesn't seem satisfied with that. Since he's a star, nobody around him can push back hard, so everyone's tiptoeing around him like he's made of glass
Can't battle at the plate like that
Isn't it his elbow?
His swing looks like he's babying his arm
They gonna use him for mop-up duty or something?
What about Tetsuto Yamada?
I still watch, but now I catch myself praying his at-bat doesn't come up in scoring chances
Since he's gonna strike out for sure, I just don't want to see it
Background and Talking Points
This season Ohtani has kept playing as a hitter while also working toward a return to the mound, and neither he nor the team has clearly explained how the two-way workload might be affecting his focus and stamina. The word “戦犯” that keeps coming up in the thread — roughly “the guy to blame” — is a common exaggeration on 5ch and shouldn’t necessarily be read as literal criticism. At the same time, other Japanese players’ slumps, Munetaka Murakami’s among them, are being brought up too, suggesting posters see this less as an attack on one player and more as general late-season fatigue. It’s also worth noting that no specific cause for the slump (elbow, wrist, or a broken swing) has been officially confirmed by the team, so everything in the thread remains speculation.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku+) thread “[Baseball] Ohtani struggling, worst stretch since joining team — no HR in 60 at-bats (12 games), hitless with 4 straight strikeouts… Dodgers drop 2 straight after blown lead.”
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