LA Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn’t seem to like Shohei Ohtani’s batting, who is showing off his peak by maintaining his batting average in the mid-30s at the beginning of the season.
The complaint stems from the fact that the batting average for scoring goals is too low. Ohtani only has a batting average of 0.053 (one hit in 19 times at bat) on Wednesday (Korea time). Despite his batting average of 0.360 and slugging percentage of 0.640 in this season, he has had only one hit in terms of scoring goals.
Coincidentally, the only hit in the left-center hit in the opening game against the San Diego Padres at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 20th of last month was a timely hit in the top of the eighth inning with one out and runners on first and second base. After that, he stood at 20 times in scoring position, but he only hit two sacrifice flies.
However, Roberts draws attention by explaining why Ohtani is not good at hitting in terms of psychology.
In an interview with MLB Network on the day, Ohtani said, “His swing is very aggressive. That’s a good thing,” but added, “The opposing pitchers also know that Ohtani is bad when a runner is in a scoring position.”
However, Roberts suggested a solution. He urged the team to lengthen the count.
“Many times batters and pitchers want the scoring position to end the game. They want the moment to end. Pitchers want the moment to end, and batters want the moment to continue,” Roberts said. “However, in special cases like Ohtani, you have to be able to endure the pain of standing longer at bat. In other words, you should not be afraid to enter the batter’s box for fear of making a mistake. If you stand at bat for a long time, you can do more.” 고수익알바
In other words, he hopes to drag the count down as long as possible. Ohtani has been dealt a lot of hits to the first and second pitches these days. He says he is impatient. His advice is to look at more than three to four pitches, as opposing pitchers are afraid of Ohtani, as they mix more manned balls than strikes.
“I talked about this with Otani. It was a satisfactory conversation,” Roberts said. “Even players like Otani have fruits that they can easily pick.” This means that if Otani drags the count down for a long time, his chances of getting a hit could increase. This would sound like a disaster to pitchers.