"National League Championship Game" Don't worry about Ohtani Shoping being too cool! US media pointed out key data and saw signs of resurrection

Shohei Ohtani. (File photo)

[Sports Center/Comprehensive Report] The Dodgers will challenge the Brewers, the regular season king of the Major League Baseball, in the National League Championship Series and continue to move towards the goal of three consecutive championships. However, the current situation of superstar Shohei Ohtani is worrying. However, the US media "Dodgers Digest" wrote an article that pointed out key data and bluntly stated that Shohei Ohtani's condition is expected to improve.

Shohei Ohtani has been plagued by injuries this year. In September, his hitting measurements were only .200/.333/.233, his attack index was 0.566, and his wRC+ was only 72. This low ebb also continued into the division series. However, "Dodgers Digest" bluntly stated that the reason why we can still be optimistic about Ohtani Shohei is first of all because you will believe that a player with Hall of Fame level talent will eventually be able to find his form, but more importantly, his physical condition may no longer be as limited as it was in September.

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Ohtani's average swing speed exceeded 75 miles only 39.3% of the time in September, compared with 49.9% when he was healthy in the first half of this year; however, by the National League Division Series, this rate had increased to 68.2%. In addition, Ohtani's percentage of hitting the sweet spot and hitting the fastest initial velocity in the divisional games were also similar to those in the first half of the season. Among them, the percentage of his swing speed exceeding 80 miles was 5 percentage points higher than the whole year. It was only after Ohtani returned from the disabled list in September that his swing speed exceeded 80 miles again.

"Dodgers Digest" also pointed out Ohtani's current real problem. In the playoffs, his ratio of seeing strikes was only 37.5%, which was the lowest on the team. However, he chased more than one-third of the bad balls. From another perspective, it looks like he has fallen into his common low-life pattern in the past, excessively enlarging the strike zone and frequently chasing bad balls.

"Dodgers Digest" pointed out that the Warriors discovered that Ohtani's physical condition had improved in the divisional round, so they began to avoid throwing strikes to him. Next, it must be seen whether Ohtani himself can regain the set strike zone and improve his home plate discipline. The recovery of Ohtani's swing speed does not mean that he has fully recovered from his injury, or that there is no risk of re-injury. However, it seems that he has recovered to a certain extent. As long as he can make correct judgments on the bat again, he will have the opportunity to contribute to the Dodgers.