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The story
Shohei Ohtani struck out again in his team’s latest game, extending his ongoing batting slump. On 5ch’s ‘Nandemo Jikkyo G’ (general live-commentary) board, posters started out noting things like “something’s been off since his very first at-bat” and “he’s been bad ever since September,” and the discussion spiraled into a debate over what’s behind the slide. Opinions mixed together — some blamed failing eyesight or a slower swing, some compared him to Ichiro at the same age of 32, and others pointed to injuries or the toll of being a two-way player — with no consensus on how much is real decline versus a temporary rough patch.
What people said
The crowd was roaring, cheering on Mijorosky.
and he's not even the Ohtani of old anymore.
More like the pitch just got away from him than him being spooked.
Same as late-career Ichiro
His eyes just can't keep up anymore.
For Ichiro, 32 was still prime-of-his-career age though…
His swing speed has dropped by about 20%.
I started going farsighted early myself too.
Even if they're both egotists in their own way, Ichiro had a philosophy behind it — he knew there were things he couldn't do if he let himself get fat.
this is the year Ohtani's having his second kid close in age to the first.
it's almost disrespectful to even compare them.
Well, being a batter and being a pitcher are totally different workloads
and on top of that Ichiro was an outfielder.
He can't even throw enough innings to qualify — calling him a 'pitcher' is a stretch.
Has he even had a full season of real pitching work since joining the Dodgers? The guy's basically a DH at this point.
Is he pressing?
Everything hurts, everywhere.
Might also be because real-time AI pitch prediction got banned starting in the second half of the season.
If his current numbers don't count as being a pitcher, then what would it even take to qualify as one?
He's barely even pitching and still acting like a pitcher, don't push it
Does that really count as a pitcher by Dani-Shin's standard?
Just standing in the batter's box puts pressure on the other team.
With that huge frame of his, yeah, he's bound to be intimidating.
Guess it really is an injury
Same thing happened at the start of the season too
His form looks way too broken.
To think he'd fall off this hard just a year after what might be the best performance in MLB history.
The best performance in MLB history was two years ago, not one.
At least that guy slacks off, which honestly makes him better
This guy's hurt but still insists 'play me anyway.'
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
Ohtani moved to the Dodgers in 2024 on a 10-year, $700 million contract — one of the largest in baseball history (roughly ¥100 billion) — and as a two-way player he’s expected to deliver results both on the mound and at the plate. In the thread, posters framed this as “a collapse in just one year” by comparing his current form to the strong two-way numbers he put up the previous season, but it’s worth noting that’s purely the impression of posters in the thread; the claim that his swing speed dropped 20% isn’t official data from the team or MLB either, just an anonymous post. The comparison to Ichiro also sparked discussion around age, but given the difference in roles — pitcher versus outfielder and hitter — and the fact that Ichiro was known for staying remarkably injury-free, a simple comparison is difficult. There’s also a split between those who see his reduced pitching workload as effectively “DH-only now” and those who argue his ongoing recovery from injury needs to be factored in — a tension likely to remain a talking point for how he’s used going forward.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] Shohei Ohtani Shows No Sign of Being Able to Hit Properly Anymore wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.”
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