Kershaw → LeBlanc → And this pitcher, of course, faced off 10 times against Ohtani's natural enemy and lost all KO

Apr 23, 2025

Kershaw → LeBlanc → And this pitcher, of course, faced off 10 times against Ohtani's natural enemy and lost all KO
Chicago Cubs Japanese pitcher Shota Imanaga starts against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 23rd (Korea time) and sprays the ball vigorously. AP Yonhap News



Kershaw → LeBlanc → And this pitcher, of course, faced off 10 times against Ohtani's natural enemy and lost all KO
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani is striking out swinging in the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs on the 23rd (Korea time). ImagesYonhap News
The LA Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani has a scary 'natural enemy'. Chicago Cubs left-hander Imana, who is from the same Japan, is Shotai.

Ohtani played as a leadoff designated hitter in the game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on the 23rd (Korea time) and recorded no hits, one walk and two points in four at-bats. The Dodgers suffered a painful walk-off defeat of 10-11 after a close game in the 10th inning of extra time, and Ohtani's hit was regrettable.

In particular, he never had a hit against Cubs starter Imana on the day. They faced off three times and recorded ground balls (fault on base), strikeouts, and strikeouts, respectively.




Ohtani, the leadoff hitter in the top of the first inning, hit a 91.5-mile fastball in the middle of Imana's second pitch. The missed ball fell in front of third baseman Gage Walkman, who shifted to the right. Walkman caught the one-bound ball Ohtani was safe at first base while making a mistake of missing back. The on-base error is included in the batting. Ohtani then homered on Tommy Edman's three-run home run in the middle of the month.

He struck out after two outs in the second inning, when he was trailing 4-5. At ball count 2B2S, Imanaga fumbled his bat to a high sweeper in the middle of his fifth pitch, 80.6 miles. I didn't get the timing at all.

In the fifth inning, when the team was 4-5 inferiority, he also entered as the leadoff hitter and struck out. On the ball count 1B2S, he swung again on an 82.2 mile sweeper that flowed outside for the fourth pitch.




Kershaw → LeBlanc → And this pitcher, of course, faced off 10 times against Ohtani's natural enemy and lost all KO
Otani went 0 for 10 in the majors against Imana. ImagesYonhap News
In the fourth at-bat in the seventh inning, Ohtani got on base with a walk against right-hander Brad Keller and scored on Freddie Freeman's double, and in the eighth inning, right-hander Gavin Hollowell struck out swinging on a sweeper in the middle of 85.1 miles after one out. Given that Ohtani's batting condition is passing the low point, it is presumed that not only Imana but also other pitchers were tricky.

With this, Ohtani marked a season batting average of 0.264 (23 hits in 87 at-bats), six home runs, eight RBIs, 23 points, 14 walks, 26 strikeouts, 5 steals, a on-base percentage of 0.366, a slugging percentage of 0.506, and an OPS of 0.872. It is a poor start to the season compared to last year, the first season of the Dodgers transfer. There is also a possibility that he lost his batting sense even more against Imana.

Kershaw → LeBlanc → And this pitcher, of course, faced off 10 times against Ohtani's natural enemy and lost all KO
Otani is striking out at the plate in the top of the eighth inning. AP Yonhap News
Ohtani was completely overpowered by Imanagawa, who joined the Cubs last year, with no hits in 10 at-bats. He didn't get any four pitches, and struck out three times.




The statistics are interesting. Among the pitchers Ohtani faced with more than 10 at-bats, three pitchers failed to take away any hits or four outs. The other two are retired Wade LeBlanc and Clayton Kershaw, now a colleague of Ohtani. The two pitchers are also left-handed.

Ohtani went 0-for-13 with nine strikeouts against LeBlanc. He went 0-for-11 with four strikeouts in his career at-bats against Kershaw.

Ohtani has a batting average of 0.260 and an OPS of 0.834 against his career left-hander. Compared to the right-hander batting average of 0.291 and OPS of 0.996, it is a significant difference. Ohtani's weak left-hander is just one case of the orthodoxy that 'left-handed hitters are weak against left-handed pitchers'



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.