It's time for Dodgers fans to start worrying about Shohei Ohtani's playoff numbers

This Los Angeles Dodgers roster was engineered for October edges: win the margins, win the moments, end the doubts. When that’s the blueprint, every Shohei Ohtani plate appearance is supposed to move the needle. Lately, it hasn’t. When the bracket shrinks and every plate appearance tilts the series, stars don’t just swing; they set the temperature. And right now, Ohtani’s bat is running cold at the exact moment Los Angeles needs heat. 

It’s not panicking to notice; it’s pattern recognition. The Phillies controlled the zone against Ohtani in the NLDS — getting to pitcher’s counts, expanding late, and living just off the edges. The at-bats look hurried, the contact is softer, and the chases are a tick more frequent. It reads less like a slump and more like a scouting report taking root.

Dodgers fans have a real reason to worry about Shohei Ohtani’s playoff bat

The disappointment hits harder because the regular-season version of Ohtani was a sledgehammer wrapped in strike-zone judgment. He finished the year slashing .282/.392/.622 with 55 homers and 102 RBI — a video-game middle-of-the-order force whose takes were as damaging as his swings. That guy is supposed to be matchup-proof in October. But in four games against the Phillies, Ohtani went 1-for-18 with nine strikeouts and one RBI.

That’s not a blip; that’s a vortex of empty trips in leverage. Zoom out, and the early-October postseason ledger isn’t prettier: a .148 average with two homers, two runs scored, five RBI and zero steals in 27 at-bats across six games. On the mound, there’s a 1–0 mark but a 4.50 ERA with nine strikeouts over six innings — useful, yes, but not enough to offset the offensive blackout. For a franchise built around star certainty, Ohtani’s swing has become the biggest “if” left in Dodger blue.

And that’s the jarring contrast. We’ve seen the Ohtani who bends October to his will. In 2024, over 16 postseason games, he hit .230 with 14 hits, 3 homers, 10 RBI, and scored 14 runs — numbers that don’t scream dominance but were enough to contribute to a World Series ring.

This year, the swing decisions aren’t translating into the same pressure. Pitchers are getting to two strikes without fear, and the contact quality isn’t bailing him out. That doesn’t mean he’s broken; it means opponents have found a plan they believe in.

There’s also the human element we don’t talk about enough. October at-bats are loud (louder than any stat page) and you can see it in Ohtani’s body language right now — a tick earlier on the commit, a fraction later on the lift, and a few too many defensive swings when he usually spits on those pitches. When he’s himself, the spotlight helps everyone else breathe; when he’s searching, the lineup feels like it’s walking a tightrope without a net.

So what changes? This isn’t about reinventing Shohei Ohtani. It’s about narrowing the game back to his superpowers: re-establishing takes on that bottom-edge breaking ball in the first two pitches, hunting one zone he can drive early, and forcing pitchers to come back over the plate. Give him one free pass and he’ll reset timing with a stolen read or first-to-third. Get him a heater middle-in and the pendulum swings quickly. The Dodgers can help him by protecting with traffic, whatever it takes to make the mound feel less comfortable. 

And when he pitches again in this run, great, but the clearest path out of this is still Ohtani doing Ohtani things at the plate: punishing mistakes and refusing to chase the pitcher’s script.