Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider had seen enough from Shohei Ohtani on Monday night, intentionally walking the Dodgers' lead-off man four times in the later innings and then pitching around him in the 17th with a four-pitch walk. It came after pitching to the Japanese superstar in his first four at-bats, with the slugger recording two home runs and two doubles. Schneider explained his reasoning to reporters after the game.
“It's not the easiest thing in the world to just walk him and face Mookie [Betts] and Freddie [Freeman],” Schneider said after the 6-5 loss. “You got to really execute at a high level against him. I think the first couple games we did. I think that we executed pretty well, minus today. He's a great player and took some really good swings today.”
Ohtani has become so dominant that the Blue Jays might try to avoid him for the rest of the series if the situation allows it. With lefty Eric Lauer pitching 4+ innings on Monday night, it's unlikely that they'll have a high-leverage left-handed pitcher available that they trust to face Ohtani after he saw Mason Fluharty well in his at-bat against him. Toronto has also lost trust in Brendon Little and would like to avoid that matchup at all costs.
Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker seem content to let the rest of the stars in the Dodgers' lineup beat the Blue Jays. The reporters asked the manager point-blank whether he would implement the walk strategy going forward, and he didn't shy away from it.
“Yeah,” he responded.
Ohtani's bat isn't the only worry for the Blue Jays in Game 4. The two-way phenom will take the mound for the Dodgers on Tuesday night, and he has been just as dominant in that role this postseason. In his last start against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani recorded 10 strikeouts over six innings while also hitting three home runs at the plate. If John Schneider's team wants to get back in the World Series, they'll have to go directly through Shohei Ohtani.
