Shohei Ohtani is on fire right now.
MLB’s leader in hits, batting average, slugging, and OPS is also second in home runs and WAR and tied for the league lead in doubles. In his 11 games in May so far, he’s carrying an incredible slash line of .452/.531/.857 with five home runs. Pitchers are struggling against him, so they’ll gladly take any help from umpires.
That’s precisely what happened last night when Ohtani struck out twice on questionable calls. In the top of the third, home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt called Ohtani out on a pitch that was low, and then did it again on a ball outside in the seventh. Ohtani was not pleased with either call.
These are the kinds of calls needed to keep Ohtani to a relatively quiet 2-for-4 night and beat the Dodgers, who are 10-3 in May and currently hold the second-best record in the National League.
Consequently, Ohtani can’t afford to get too upset about borderline calls, even when they’re wrong.
The Dodgers are near the top in nearly every statistical category. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, and Will Smith are not far behind various league leaders in many offensive categories, while Mookie Betts is having only a slightly less impressive season than Ohtani at the plate (.348/.445/.562).
Without a few bad calls, there might not be anything that can stop this Dodgers’ offense.
