Shohei Ohtani achieved his goal of reaching the World Series after signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I really feel like we finally arrived. I finally arrived at this stage,” Ohtani said through a translator after the Dodgers beat the New York Mets 10-5 in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series.
Ohtani batted .364 with two home runs, six RBIs, nine walks, and a 1.184 OPS against the Mets, contributing two hits and an RBI in Game 6. In his first postseason, he has a .286 average with three homers and 10 RBIs over 11 games, heading into the World Series against the New York Yankees on Friday.
When he signed his record $700 million, 10-year contract last December, Ohtani agreed to defer $68 million each year to give the team more payroll flexibility. The Dodgers used this flexibility to sign pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, trade for pitcher Tyler Glasnow, and add outfielder Teoscar Hernández.
“The goal was to get to this far,” Ohtani said, “and I also pictured myself getting this far with the contract that I’ve signed.”
Ohtani didn’t pitch this year while recovering from elbow surgery, but he batted .310 with 54 home runs, 130 RBIs, and 59 stolen bases, becoming the first player to achieve a 50-50 season. He is likely to win his first NL MVP award after previously winning two AL MVPs.
“He’s the world’s biggest baseball star. Not just the game, the world,” teammate Max Muncy said.
“He shows up every day, you expect him to do something incredible, and he very rarely disappoints. He works hard, and he’s a great teammate. We’ve loved having him in the clubhouse, and being his teammate all year long has been a real treat.”
Ohtani has been successful with runners in scoring position, going 18 for his last 23 in such situations since his 10-RBI game on September 19. He did have an 0-for-22 stretch without any runners on base.
“There’s nothing in particular that I changed,” Ohtani said. “Obviously when there are situations, I do adjust how I swing. But in terms of my approach, I’ve kept it the same the whole time. I think part of it is just a small sample size.”
