Shohei Ohtani had himself a huge week that included a milestone with the Los Angeles Dodgers and culminated in him being named National League Player of the Week.
It is the first accolade that he has received as a member of the Dodgers organization and the eighth time in his career that he has won the award, with the other seven coming during his previous six years with the Los Angeles Angels in the American League.
During the past week, Ohtani went 11-for-21 with three homers, seven RBI, three walks, six runs scored, two stolen bases, a .952 slugging percentage and a .583 on-base percentage in five games.
That was good enough to lead the league in batting average, on-base percentage, and on-base plus slugging. He was also tied for the Major League lead in total bases with 20 and ranked second in slugging percentage and hits.
Ohtani has been extremely productive for the Dodgers all season, but reaching base over 50% of the time is a sign of a batter that is locked in at the plate. He raised his already sky-high .341 batting average all the way up to .364 when all was said and done.
Controlling the zone and getting into advantageous counts were key to his success.
“For this past week, controlling the strike zone,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s won a lot of pitches, and we talk about earning pitches. And so he’s taken a lot of mid-count balls down below the zone, or off the plate or in, and getting into some decent counts and getting some good pitches to hit. So he’s done a great job of earning good pitches to hit.”
Getting a couple of days off before the Dodgers returned to Dodger Stadium also might have helped him recharge a bit after a three strikeout game against the Diamondbacks on the tail end of a nine game road trip.
“Yeah, I think that was kind of an outlier game. I think it was the end of a nine day, nine in a row. And so I think one of those you just kind of dismiss that one,” Roberts said.
Ohtani hit safely in all of his games last week and has hit safely in 30 of his 35 games this season, which is the most in the Majors. It’s even more impressive considering he is ahead of his teammate, and NL Player of the Month, Mookie Betts.
Ohtani’s performances were especially vital to helping the Dodgers earn an impressive sweep of the visiting Atlanta Braves in a matchup of two NL powerhouse ballclubs.
He earned his seventh career four-hit game on Sunday against the Braves. He collected homers in the first and eighth innings, marking his 17th career multi-homer game and first with the Dodgers, and his 11 home runs this season leads MLB.
Shohei Ohtani reaching his fullest potential with Dodgers
Ohtani has been one of the most dangerous hitters in the league this season and is part of a fearsome first four batters in the Dodgers lineup. In a lineup full of MVPs, he may be the most dangerous so far as he paces the Majors in batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, hits, doubles, extra-base hits, and total bases.
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