The timing was coincidental.
But, on Shohei Ohtani’s first off day as a Dodger, the discourse Wednesday centered on the one big struggle of his 2024 season — a weakness that had cropped up again the night before.
When there hasn’t been a runner at second or third base this season, Ohtani has been the best hitter in baseball. He is batting an MLB-best .398 in such spots. His .774 slugging percentage is more than 100 points better than all but two other players.
When the Dodgers need to start a rally, the $700-million signing is often their most potent spark.
However, with runners in scoring position over the first month of the season, the slugger’s production has unexpectedly cratered, leading to a trend of frustratingly empty key at-bats.
With RISP, Ohtani is batting just .184 (seven for 38) with a .237 slugging percentage. Of the 14 big leaguers with at least 35 such at-bats, he is the only one with fewer than 10 RBIs. And, somewhat amazingly, he has driven in more runs without RISP (10, including all seven of his home runs) than with RISP (nine).
The two latest examples came in a Tuesday loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, when Ohtani struck out in the fifth inning with runners on second and third, then almost hit into an inning-ending double-play in the top of the 10th, having to use his speed to beat a throw to first and prolong the inning — one that still resulted in only one Dodgers run, before the Diamondbacks scored twice in the bottom half for a walk-off win.
“Certainly, there was some opportunities,” manager Dave Roberts said a day later, after — in what he insisted was an unrelated decision — deciding to give Ohtani his first day off. “But, I don’t want to say [it was him taking a] step back.”
Maybe in the context of this season, it wasn’t.
But, compared to his last three seasons with the Angels, when producing in situational at-bats was one of the two-time most valuable player’s signature strengths, Ohtani’s struggles this season have thus far been confounding.
From 2021 to 2023, Ohtani was one of Major League Baseball’s best hitters with RISP. He batted .305 in those situations, the 22nd-best mark in the majors in that span. He…