Despite six no-hit innings and his third career leadoff homer, Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani isn't satisfied with his performance.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are enjoying a two-way superstar who can do it all in Shohei Ohtani, who hit a 424-foot homer, threw six no-hit innings, and walked away feeling annoyed and dissatisfied. He holds himself to, frankly, an untouchable standard while producing historic results that also feel unattainable by other stars in the league. Ohtani hit his third ever leadoff homer as a pitcher in the Dodgers win over the Colorado Rockies. And before Ohtani entered the league, no major league player ever hit one once.
He also shined with six no-hit innings, only giving up one run to see his ERA drop to 0.82 on the year. It largely portaled Los Angeles to their fifth straight win in the 4-1 victory over the Rockies. The only hit was a Tyler Freeman single in the eighth off Tanner Scott that killed the near combined no-hitter. The only run was due to a walk and hit by pitch that was drove in by fielder’s choices in the fourth, which irritated Ohtani, nonetheless, as did the four walks. he did have a season-low strike rate with 56.6 percent, but he is simply in a category of his own in the league.
To read more about the near no-hitter and Ohtani’s dominance here is the full story from Dodgers Roundtable writer Adrian Medina.
Ohtani just felt like he couldn’t “really find it,” which is just a feel thing that isn’t quantifiable, but he left the outing rather frustrated in his postgame remarks. To give some perspective on these unattainable standards and expectations, manager Dave Roberts pointed to managing Clayton Kershaw – though Ohtani may be in a league of his own. Ohtani now holds the lowest ERA by a Los Angeles starting pitcher through nine outings. He is firmly a frontrunner in the NL Cy Young race despite stiff competition. Wednesday’s result showed exactly why.
