Shohei Ohtani’s Hitting Woes Continue as Dodgers’ Star Trio Gifts the Series to Rangers

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ bipolar form continues to astound watchers. One moment their hitters hit 15 runs in a game and just the next day they can barely cross home base. However, this has been the case for them for the past month. The series against the reigning champs the Texas Rangers highlighted that fact. However, while the hitters failed – the worrying sign was Shohei Ohtani’s continuous downward trend.

Since May 31, the two-way phenom’s bat hasn’t been screaming like it used to do. Ohtani started the month batting at .330 with 1.011 OPS but since then his numbers have dropped tremendously. After last night’s game, Shotime is hitting .306 with .955 OPS. Since May 31, he’s been batting with a mere .191 average and has just three homers in 12 games. All of that negative momentum came to a head in the eighth inning of Thursday’s game.

The Blue Crew were trailing by two runs but the victory was in their hands. Cavan Biggio’s pitch hit and Austin Barnes’ right field single gave a golden opportunity. Suddenly the first and third base were filled and up next were their superstar trio. But then Texas Rangers’ David Robertson did the unthinkable two days in a row – he struck out all three of  Mookie Betts, Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman. 

While Betts and Ohtani were stuck out in three successive pitches, Freeman put up a big fight. However, after eating 5 pitches, Freeman couldn’t help but swing on an 89-mph knuckleball. It was another evidence of the Dodgers’ hitting staff’s recent inconsistencies. With this Robertson achieved a feat that no other pitcher has this season – striking out the Dodgers’ top 3 in succession.

The Rangers sealed their series win against the Dodgers. And the Blue Crew? All they have are questions. The skipper Dave Roberts was visibly frustrated with his team’s failure to attack.

Dave Roberts rues missing aggression as Shohei Ohtani and Dodgers fall again

“Tonight, I thought we put the ball in play, hit some balls hard, but we couldn’t threaten,” Dave Roberts said per Los Angeles Times. “We only punched twice. There were some bad outs in there.”  The skipper also noted how Shohei Ohtani expanded his zone during the eighth inning. That has been a consistent issue with Ohtani lately and the superstar agreed with the sentiment.

However, the two-way phenom tipped his hat to Robertson for getting him out twice with the same sequence. “He’s been able to execute side-to-side,” Ohtani said. “Some pitches were pretty close.” Some pitches were not exactly strikes. But overall, he’s been able to execute pretty well.” 

Though the Los Angeles Dodgers remain on top of their division, things need to change quickly. While they might be favorites of many, one can’t deny that inconsistencies like this could cost them their World Series bid.