Does Dave Roberts know what Shohei Ohtani’s expletive of choice is?
“I do,” Roberts said.
What letter does it start with?
Roberts laughed.
“I’m not going to say it,” Roberts said. “I’m going to protect him on that one.”
There was no point.
Because in the second inning of the Dodgers’ 4-1 victory over the Rockies on Wednesday night, Ohtani dropped the F-Bomb Heard ‘Round Chavez Ravine, a scream of frustration loud enough to pierce through the murmuring of a crowd of 50,000-plus fans.
That wasn’t the only R-rated word that came out of the mouth of Ohtani, who spent the night in a rage — when he was on the mound.
And Ohtani the Hitter?
He was like another person. He was calm. He was upbeat.
For the second time in as many starts as a pitcher, Ohtani hit a leadoff home run, which he pointed to as evidence of his uptick in form in the batter’s box.
“I feel it’s gradually improving,” Ohtani said in Japanese.
By modifying launch angles, he added, “I think there will be more of the kinds of balls that go out.”
Last October, Ohtani played what many considered to be the greatest postseason game in history. In Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers, Ohtani homered three times as a hitter and struck out 10 batters over six scoreless innings as a pitcher.
Ohtani described the performance as dekisugi, which translates in English to something along the lines of “too good to be true.”
Weeks later, his father wrote him an open letter that was published in a Japanese sports newspaper. The elder Ohtani made a reference to his two-way performance in the NLCS.
“Once you do that, it’s ‘I want him to do that again next time,” Ohtani’s father wrote. “As a parent, I watched while thinking it’s a little scary, a little pitiable.”
Ohtani’s father was right.
Games like the one Ohtani played against the Brewers are extremely uncommon, even for a player as gifted as him. Most games in which he plays both ways are bound to be like the one he played on Wednesday against the Rockies, and herein lies the difficulty the Dodgers face in guiding him through a 162-game schedule.
While Ohtani the Pitcher has outperformed Ohtani the Hitter as a whole this season, the opposite was the case in the last two games he pitched. Ohtani didn’t give up a run in a win over the Padres last week, but he lasted only five innings.
In his most recent start, Ohtani didn’t give up a hit to Rockies, but he was charged with four walks, a hit batsman and a run. His elevated pitch count forced him out of the game as a pitcher after only six innings.
“Overall, I felt like I was battling my command,” Ohtani said.
His frustration came to the surface in the second inning.
With two outs, he yanked a 2-0 fastball to Ezequiel Tovar, leading to him blurting out a profanity for the entire world to hear. He eventually walked Tovar.
“Personally, I hate walking batters more than I do giving up hits,” Ohtani said. “I think giving up hits isn’t as bad rhythm-wise. Pitch-count-wise too. Allowing hitters to reach base on walks makes it that much harder to pitch deep into games.”
Ohtani finished the game with 10 strikeouts. His earned-run average went up by a smidge, to 0.82.
He had a completely different experience at the plate. On the third pitch he saw, Ohtani cleared the wall in dead center, continuing his longstanding domination over countryman Tomoyuki Sugano.
Between the majors and the Japanese league, Ohtani is 7 for 10 with three home runs, a double, a walk and three runs batted in against Sugano.
In addition to his first-inning blast, Ohtani was pleased with his seventh-inning at-bat against Antonio Senzatela, which resulted in a lineout to left field.
“If I could get that a little more to left-center, my hitting will go up another level,” Ohtani said.
In his last 13 games as a hitter, Ohtani is batting .383 with three homers and 14 RBIs.
Roberts had to pause for a moment when asked which version of Ohtani he enjoyed watching more: the hitter or pitcher.
“I’d say, probably, when he’s right, pitching,” Roberts said. “I love watching that kind of alter ego compete on the mound.”
Ohtani’s demeanor on the mound reminded Roberts of another player he managed.
“A guy that wore No. 22 that we remember,” he said.
Roberts was talking about Clayton Kershaw.
“I wouldn’t say he’s as animated as Clayton was, but he’s intense in his way,” Roberts said.
Roberts said he would decide on a start-by-start basis whether Ohtani would be the Dodgers’ designated hitter on days he pitches.
The last two games in which Ohtani pitched offered examples of why this won’t be a simple process.
Roberts basically has to manage two players who share the same body, and they might not be performing at the same level — or even feel the same.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
