The fact that Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run as a member of his new team may have overshadowed the Los Angeles Dodgers’ sweep of the San Francisco Giants.
During the season’s first eight games, Ohtani had been having trouble hitting for power. In addition, he was missing hittable pitches due to some timing problems.
But now that Ohtani is scoring, his total of home runs ought to start climbing quickly.
The pressure of living up to a $700 million contract may have been on the back of his mind, as well aas the situation with Ippei Mizuhara, his former interpreter and friend who was accused of stealing millions from him.
While Dodgers manager Dave Roberts downplayed those things as affecting Ohtani on the field, no one could blame Ohtani if they did.
Ohtani remarked, “I felt like it was taking a little longer than I had anticipated, and in those kinds of situations, it’s easy to get anxious.” “In general, I was just relieved.”
In the 5-4 victory, Ohtani’s home run also turned out to be the game-winning run. This is a fairly unusual sensation for the superstar, who lost frequently in Anaheim for years despite his valiant efforts.
Just being able to contribute in a close game, and obviously it’s not just me, but overall the team was able to put up good offense,” Ohtani said. “So I’m very relieved and happy with that.”
Shohei Ohtani got home run ball back
Ohtani was able to get his first home run ball back from the fan that caught it, trading a ball, two caps and a bat for it, along with a meet and greet with the fan.
“Obviously, it’s a very special ball,” Ohtani said. A lot of feelings toward it. I’m very grateful it’s back.”
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