No stranger to the brightest lights, Ohtani amped for postseason debut

LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani is no stranger to lofty expectations and pressure.

As a teenager, Ohtani was already expected to be the next great player to come out of Japan. That pressure followed him throughout his entire career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. It only grew when he made the transition to Major League Baseball in 2018 as the only two-way player in the sport.

In the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Ohtani was the leader of the team. He gave an empowering speech before the gold medal game against the United States. On the field, Ohtani closed it out by striking out his then-teammate Mike Trout.

As a member of the Nippon Ham Fighters, Ohtani helped carry his team to the Japan Series championship in 2016, even coming in as a closer after DHing in the Climax Series (equivalent to the Championship Series) and hurling the fastest pitch in NPB history at 102.5 mph, en route to picking up the save in the clinching game. His club went on to win it all.

Every step of the way, Ohtani has delivered. His next challenge will now be the biggest of his career. In his first postseason since coming to the Majors, he’ll be asked to lead the Dodgers to their first full-season World Series since 1988. But as he’s done throughout his career, Ohtani isn’t fazed by the situation.

“Nope,” Ohtani immediately responded in English when asked if he was nervous about playing in the postseason.

“It’s always been my childhood dream to be able to be in an important situation, to play in important games,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “So I think the excitement of that is greater than anything else that I could possibly feel.”

Off the field, the Dodgers’ coaching staff, front office and teammates have marveled at Ohtani’s ability to shut off the outside noise. Even as 100 cameras follow his every move and pregame tours are full of Japanese fans wanting to watch Ohtani play, the two-way superstar never bats an eye.

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In fact, it appears he shines brightest when all eyes are on him. During his bobblehead day at Dodger Stadium, thousands of people lined up outside hours before the doors opened. All eyes were on him. He responded by hitting a leadoff homer.

On the verge of becoming the sixth member of the exclusive 40-40 club, Ohtani reached the milestone with a walk-off grand slam, the first walk-off homer of his career. Then, he topped it all off by delivering arguably the best single-game performance by any player -- a three-homer, 10-RBI performance -- to create the 50-50 club.

“Just the ability to slow everything down around him is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. “I’m really excited to watch him on the October stage. I’m excited for our fans. I’m excited for fans all over the world to get a chance to see this. It’s been the thing he’s talked about when we met in December. Every subsequent conversation with him has been about October. And I think he is really excited for the moment.”

On the field, what Ohtani accomplished this season was more than what the Dodgers could have hoped for when he signed a historic 10-year, $700 million contract -- the biggest deal in sports history -- over the winter.

Not only did Ohtani make baseball history by becoming the first member of the 50-50 club, the generational superstar set new franchise records in homers (54) and total bases (411). He also shattered records among his countrymen, including surpassing Ichiro Suzuki for the most stolen bases in a single season by a Japanese-born player with 59.

Down the stretch, Ohtani took things to another level. With the Dodgers holding on to a small lead atop the NL West, Ohtani heightened his focus. He admitted to not worrying so much about mechanics and focusing more on each at-bat. That helped him finish the season with a 12-game hitting streak, slashing .547/.586/1.057 with seven homers and 22 RBIs during that span.

“He didn’t get out,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman laughed. “[As the Dodgers got] closer and closer to winning the division, he seemed to pick it up. We saw it in the WBC, representing Japan. He’s already played in big moments. But I’m excited for him to be in his first postseason."

When the Dodgers signed Ohtani, baseball fans knew the once-in-a-lifetime talent would finally get a chance to play in the postseason for the first time. That moment is now here. All the attention will be on Ohtani. Maybe that’s exactly how he likes it.

“He’s played in a lot of big ballgames and I think it’s more for us as fans to see that it’s something that’s new to him to see how it plays out,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “But if there’s any person that I feel is going to be able to handle this, it’s certainly Shohei.”