When the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani this offseason, they knew he would be limited to only hitting coming off a second major elbow surgery. And it was fair to question whether or not he would be able to be 100 percent himself at the plate.
He has answered those questions by being one of the best hitters in MLB and has put himself as the early frontrunner for National League MVP.
It was revealed recently, however, that Ohtani has been playing through a hamstring contusion for the past few weeks. It happened on a pickoff attempt against the Cincinnati Reds on May 16.
Ever since then, Ohtani’s offensive production has seen a dip. In the 13 games since that pickoff play, Ohtani is slashing .212/.268/.385.
Even with the injury, Ohtani is not using it as an excuse for his recent struggles.
“Obviously, the leg isn’t that great, but I don’t personally think it’s affecting the swing,” Ohtani said to reporters including Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register. “I’ve been working out and making sure that’s in a good place.”
Ohtani loved hitting curveballs early on in the season. According to Baseball Savant, he saw 26 curveballs in April and had a .571 batting average. In May, only hit .250 against 25 curves.
Ohtani’s chase percentage on curveballs has also jumped from 7.7% in April to 30.8% in May.
“When his back was bothering him a little bit,” manager Dave Roberts said to True Blue LA. “You saw some funkier swings, a bit more chase. With his hamstring bothering him a little bit, you see a little more of the same thing. But I think he’s getting close to where he needs to be physically.”
Roberts also revealed that the team advised Ohtani not to push the hamstring.
Despite the recent performance, Ohtani’s overall numbers are still outstanding. He is still slashing .326/.395/.604 and has the fourth-best batting average, slugging, and OPS in MLB.