In October, Even the Greatest Find Themselves Searching for Time

There is a stillness that comes over a great athlete when the body no longer obeys the mind’s instructions. The swing that once carved through fastballs like a blade through silk now arrives a fraction late, the bat head dipping, the hands unable to find the rhythm that once felt like breathing. In Los Angeles, Shohei Ohtani—the reigning Most Valuable Player, the two-way wonder whose name has become shorthand for the impossible—is living through that stillness, and the Dodgers are running out of time to wait for him to find his way back.

Ohtani has not hit a home run since August 18. In the six playoff games since, he has batted .150 with no extra-base hits, striking out seven times and walking three . He was dropped to fifth in the batting order during the National League Division Series, the first time in more than six years he has hit that low . In Game 2 of the NLCS against Milwaukee, he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, flailing at fastballs he once punished and chasing breaking pitches well outside the zone .

The root of the problem, according to coaches and analysts, is not the bat speed—his swing remains as fast as ever—but the timing. Hitting coach Aaron Bates said at the start of the playoffs that Ohtani is “kind of moving past” the physical issues and is now working on “getting the timing against different speeds, when he wants to get his move off” . But the physical issues have not entirely vanished. Ohtani has been managing right biceps and left knee injuries since at least June, which landed him on the injured list in September. He has not pitched since July 3 .

The numbers reveal the depth of the struggle. Since August 19, Ohtani has faced 136 pitches of 95 mph or faster. He has one hit—a .036 batting average—against such velocity . His chase rate has climbed to one of the highest of his career. His squared-up rate, a measure of solid contact, is at its lowest in years . In September, he struck out 39 percent of the time, the second-highest monthly rate of his entire career .

Sports Illustrated’s analysis points to a physical cause: his lower half is collapsing. The left knee injury is preventing him from maintaining the firm front side that generates power, causing his back foot to slide behind him and his head to move too much. Without a stable base, his kinetic chain breaks down, and he cannot pull the ball with authority . Brewers pitchers have noticed. They are attacking him with fastballs at a 75 percent rate in the NLCS, compared to roughly 49 percent during the regular season, and he has not recorded a hit against them .

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged Tuesday that benching Ohtani for Game 3 was “a consideration” . But after a conversation with Ohtani, Roberts said the star would remain in the lineup. “In this moment, we’re listening to Shohei and we’re supporting the crap out of him and that’s it,” Roberts said . Ohtani, for his part, took responsibility. “The symptoms shouldn’t be the reason why I can’t hit,” he said. “I take that as an opportunity for me to just take full responsibility for it” .

The Dodgers trail the Brewers 0-2 in the NLCS. Game 3 is Wednesday in Los Angeles. Whether Ohtani can find the timing that has abandoned him—whether there is time to fix what has broken—may determine whether the season ends this week or extends into a colder, more hopeful October.

The images accompanying this article are AI-generated and used solely for illustrative purposes.

Sources: MLB.com, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic