Out-of-tune Ohtani works on swing amid all that jazz

Rare on-field BP turns heads as he locks it in

- BY JACK HARRIS

ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times SINCE the start of the NLDS, Shohei Ohtani is just two for 25 with 12 strikeouts. The two-way player says he needs to "swing at strikes and not swing at balls."

At 5:37 p.m. Wednesday, Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good” blared from the Dodger Stadium speakers.

Shohei Ohtani came strolling to the plate with a bat in his hands.

There was no one in the stands, of course. Nor an opposing pitcher on the mound. The Dodgers, on this workout day after returning from Milwaukee, were still some 22 hours away from resuming their National League Championship Series against the Brewers. For any other player, it would have been a routine affair.

Ohtani, however, is not just any player.

And among the many things that make him unique, his habit of almost never taking batting practice on the field is one of the small but notable ones.

Which made his decision to do so Wednesday a telling development.

Over the last two weeks, Ohtani has been in a slump. Since the start of the NL Division Series, he is just two for 25 with a whopping 12 strikeouts. He has been smothered by left-handed pitching. He has made poor swing decisions and failed to slug the ball.

Last week, manager Dave Roberts went so far as to say the Dodgers were “not gonna win the World Series with that sort of performance" from their $700-million slugger.

Thus, out Ohtani came for batting practice on Wednesday in the most visible sign yet of his urgency for a turnaround.