Shohei Ohtani's 112-mph homer a slump-buster? Dodgers hope so in tight NL West race (2024)

ST. LOUIS—

Shohei Ohtani did his usual toe-tap before planting his front foot firmly in the batter’s box in the fifth inning Saturday night, but this time his body remained upright and balanced as he unleashed a violent swing at an 80-mph curve and sent a 112-mph laser into the right-field bullpen in Busch Stadium for his 38th homer of the season.

Maybe that will be the swing that gets the Dodgers slugger out of a three-week slump, or maybe not. The leadoff man has hit .147 (11 for 75) with a .653 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 19 strikeouts and eight walks in 18 games since July 28, and six of those hits have left the yard, so it’s not as if the occasional long ball has helped Ohtani unlock something at the plate.

At this point, after Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, about all the Dodgers can do is hope that vicious cut leads to more, because if they are to hold off San Diego and Arizona in the National League West, they’re going to need their $700-million man to produce more like he did in the first four months of the season.

“It was an offspeed pitch over the heart of the plate, so it was something I was able to handle,” Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, said of the homer. “But I do want to improve the other at bats, just overall quality. I think having the right posture when I’m looking at the pitcher is something that’s really important. I feel like it’s a little off.”

Ohtani also walked to cap an eight-pitch at-bat, stole second and scored on Freddie Freeman’s first-inning single, reached on a third-strike wild pitch and stole second — his 37th stolen base this season — in the third and flied to left field in the eighth.

“I actually thought he took really good at-bats tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He was fighting up there and earned the walk in the first. He got a pitch up in the zone and hit a line-drive homer, so I really liked the trajectory of the baseball. He was active on the bases again, which was great. I thought offensively, he did a really nice job.”

Roberts has not been able to say that after many games this month. Ohtani hit .309 with a 1.028 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 32 homers, 28 doubles and 76 RBIs through July and was in the running for a triple crown when his bat suddenly went cold.

“I think the plate discipline is just not what it is when he’s right,” Roberts said before the game. “His walk percentage in the last three weeks is considerably down. I think the swing decisions aren’t as good as they have been.”

Is Ohtani not seeing the ball well?

“I don’t know,” Roberts said. “At times, I think he’s out front. At times, he’s getting beat a little bit. He might be a little bit in between. I think he’s losing his foundation, his base, his connection to the ground, a little bit.

“That’s never a good sign for a hitter. When you’re more into the ground, I think that’s when all hitters are at their best. I do think there’s a little bit of, he’s on ice skates a little bit more than he typically is.”

Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts reacts after making a diving catch on a fly ball against the Cardinals in the first inning Saturday.

(Jeff Le / Associated Press)

Ohtani’s balance in the box gets so out of whack at times that his front foot lands toward the first-base dugout instead of the mound. Ohtani thinks that has more to do with his approach than how opponents are pitching him.

“Rather than the swing, it’s more about the posture,” Ohtani said. “Regardless of how they’re attacking me, I’m really focused on swinging at strikes. And when I’m not really squaring up, then it’s kind of telling me that I’m not quite on it.”

Roberts doesn’t believe fatigue is a factor, and he has no plans to give Ohtani a day off.

“I remember David Ortiz playing every day as a [designated hitter], and Shohei is in a lot better shape than David,” Roberts said. “I wouldn’t think, when you’re taking four at-bats a night as a DH, that fatigue shouldn’t be a factor.”

Fatigue wasn’t a factor Saturday night for pitcher Bobby Miller, who made his first start since July 9 after his season was interrupted by a two-month stint on the injured list because of shoulder inflammation and a demotion to triple A.

Dodgers pitcher Bobby Miller delivers against the Cardinals in the first inning Saturday.

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Miller, who replaced the injured Tyler Glasnow in the rotation, was so well-rested and had so much adrenaline that his fastball sat at 99 mph in the first inning, but that velocity slipped to 96-97 mph by the third inning, and he struggled to throw his curveball and changeup consistently for strikes.

The result was a 4 ⅔-inning, four-run, eight-hit effort in which he struck out one — matching his lowest whiff total in 30 career starts — walked one, threw four wild pitches and gave up two homers, a two-run shot to Alex Burleson in the second and a solo shot to Masyn Winn in the fifth.

Miller, who had a breakout rookie season in 2023, going 11-4 with a 3.76 ERA in 22 starts, with 119 strikeouts and 32 walks in 124 ⅓ innings, is now 1-3 with an 8.02 ERA in six starts this season.

“It’s hard to pitch from behind, and he was behind hitters all night,” Roberts said. “It took him three or four innings to find some semblance of a breaking ball. He couldn’t land a curveball for a strike. The changeup was a ball out of hand. Then he started to get a little feel for it, but at that time I thought he was out of gas.”

Freeman was pulled from the game in the bottom of the eighth after a bad-hop ground ball off the bat of Nolan Gorman in the sixth inning hit him on the middle finger of his throwing hand, which swelled up over the next two innings. X-rays on the finger were negative, and Freeman said he is day to day.

“I was a little nervous when my finger blew up like that, and it got tight,” Freeman said. “It was kind of hurting to throw, so it was best to get me out, get some ice on it and see how we feel [on Sunday].”

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Short hops

Reliever Ryan Brasier, sidelined since late April because of a right-calf strain, was activated for Saturday night’s game and recorded four straight outs in the fifth and sixth innings. To clear roster spots for Brasier and Miller, the Dodgers optioned left-hander Justin Wrobleski, who threw five innings in a spot-start Friday night, and reliever Michael Grove to triple A.