Dodgers notes: Shohei Ohtani, struggling offense
Despite his and the team’s offense being lackluster, Ohtani has both on-base and scoreless inning streaks
Apr 1, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) reacts after he was called out on a checked swing with bases loaded to end in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Funny thing about baseball. You usually don’t win the game when the other team scores more than you.
After sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks to start the season, the Dodgers lost two-of-three to the Cleveland Guardians. Most concerning at the moment is the lack of production from the offense. In Wednesday’s loss, the top six in the lineup went 1-for-21 with eight strikeouts .
And the one hit came from Freddie Freeman who hit a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Shockingly, that was not enough to mount a comeback when the other team had already scored four runs. Before Wednesday’s game, a rare thing happened.
Shohei Ohtani took batting practice on the field. As Doug Padilla of the OC Register points out , the last time Ohtani took batting practice on the field was Game 3 of the NLCS when he was in a slump, only having gone 2-for-25 in the playoffs to that point. We all know what he did in Game 4 of that series.