LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani hit two dwelling runs for the Dodgers on Sunday in opposition to the Royals, actually elevating his sport after slumping for the previous month or so.
He was hit twice by Brady Singer, first to left-center subject within the third inning, then once more within the sixth inning, this time to proper subject.
During the last month, Ohtani has hit an amazing quantity of grounders, 52 p.c of his at-bats, up from his 40.9 p.c groundball price over the earlier three seasons, in comparison with simply 33.6 p.c of grounders within the first eight weeks of the season.
The timing of this stretch coincided with Ohtani being hit by an errant pickoff shot on his hamstring on Could 16. He's hit simply .206/.283/.392 within the 26 video games since then, coming into Sunday.
Ohtani additionally homered in back-to-back video games in opposition to the Rangers earlier at dwelling, however in his final 5 video games — together with these two homers — he's additionally hit half of his floor balls.
Dave Roberts earlier than the sport stated that Ohtani has been too rotational together with his swing, and consequently is commonly restricted to utilizing just one third of the pitch. Though Ohtani stated the hamstring damage didn't have an effect on his wing, Roberts stated it could be pure if somebody as meticulous as Ohtani may compensate, even somewhat.
“He's such a tremendous athlete,” Roberts stated earlier than Sunday's sport. “For him, he receives the massages, every little thing is completely in line, however when it's not – it's a Ferrari – he in all probability received't say, however that's what I see.”
On Sunday, Ohtani used a number of thirds of the pitch, which looks like a very good signal for one of many sport's finest hitters.
