SAN DIEGO – Judge me by the results.
Shohei Ohtani has never said that explicitly, but that’s the message he’s indirectly conveyed over the years by being as private as he is.
He doesn’t share many of his thoughts. He withholds details about his training. He doesn’t reveal much of his personality.
Ohtani doesn’t exert much effort to influence the opinions of people outside of his orbit – other than with how he plays.
So when Ohtani hit a leadoff home run and pitched five scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ 4-0 victory over the Padres on Wednesday night at Petco Park, he didn’t stick out his chest or say anything along the lines of, “I told you so.”
He didn’t have to.
He made his statement on the field.
The game was an opportunity for Ohtani to push back against the perception that his expanded responsibilities as a pitcher have negatively affected him as a hitter, and how he performed was more convincing than any words that could have come out of his mouth.
Which could be why he was as diplomatic as he was afterward.
Rather than complain about how the Dodgers refrained from using him as a designated hitter in each of the last three games he pitched, Ohtani basically said it was up to him to force his way into the offensive lineup.
“For them to say they want me to [pitch and hit in the same game], I think is what’s best for me,” Ohtani said in Japanese. “I think that if I can pitch well and produce good results hitting like I did today, I think there will be more opportunities for them to use me [as a two-way player] in the future.”
Ohtani went as far to extend an olive branch of sorts to team management.
While he previously said he accepted decisions to give him an occasional day off from hitting, he never said he agreed with them – an important distinction in a culture in which what is not said is often more important than what is said.
Twice last week, he wasn’t the Dodgers’ DH – on a day he pitched and the day after.
Asked about that, he replied, “I think the team is thinking about a lot of things to help me get through a long season, so I support that opinion. If we can understand each other, be satisfied and take it game by game, regardless of when I rest or when I play, I think the chances of performing well will increase.”
As calm and gracious as he was after the game, he looked as if he went into it determined to make a point.
“I think that he’s very mindful of everything that’s being said about him,” manager Dave Roberts said, “and I think that at times he uses that as motivation to prove people wrong, that he can do something.”
Ohtani did that on the first pitch of the game.
Pouncing on a high fastball by Padres starter Randy Vasquez, he drove the ball over Petco Park’s centerfield wall for his second home run in his last 18 games as a hitter.
“I thought about letting it go,” Ohtani said. “It was a home run I was able to hit by reacting. I think it’s a home run that will lead to something else later.”
Ohtani was 0 for 3 with a walk in his four other plate appearances, but he said he was pleased with the overall quality of his at-bats.
He was less satisfied with how he pitched, as the start was his first this season in which he failed to complete six innings. Without specifying why, Ohtani said he entered the start with “a little uncertainty” because he didn’t feel comfortable throwing the ball in the preceding days.
“I thought it was a little bit of a grind in the sense that I don’t think he felt his best,” Roberts said. “In that third or fourth inning, you can see him kind of putting the governor on his fastball and just kind of managing it, and then reaching back for more when he needed to.”
In the fifth inning, the Padres loaded the bases against Ohtani with one out. Ohtani threw a first-pitch sweeper to Fernando Tatis Jr., who grounded into an inning-ending doubleplay.
Ohtani unleashed a celebratory scream.
His point was made.
