The Los Angeles Dodgers have played in seven postseason games in the 2024 Major League Baseball playoffs and won four. They are in the process of traveling to New York for game three of the National League Championship Series. From an offensive perspective, there is one statistic that is extremely zany, and it involves the Dodgers leadoff hitter who is expected to win the 2024 National League Most Valuable Player Award–designated hitter Shohei Ohtani.
What is the statistic?
Ohtani is batting .222 with six hits in 27 at bats. However, he has been hitting much better when a teammate has been on base. In eight at bats when a teammate has been on base in the playoffs, Ohtani has six hits and is batting a terrific .750. When Ohtani is up to bat and no one is on base, he has been a horrendous zero for 19. One could ask how is this remotely possible? Well, it is true. For Dodgers fans, this could be considered a quirky statistic.
In the regular season, one must be aware that Ohtani did just fine when teammates were not on base. He batted .311 with 32 home runs, 117 hits, 21 doubles and six triples.
Dodgers pitching staff deserves praise
Over a four game stretch in the playoffs, the Dodgers went through a 33 inning stretch without giving up a single run. After falling behind 6-0 to the San Diego Padres in game three of the National League Divisional Series, Dodgers relief pitchers pitched six consecutive shutout innings in a 6-5 loss. That was followed by a 8-0 Dodgers shutout win in game four against the Padres, a 2-0 Dodgers win in game five against the Padres, and a 9-0 Dodgers shutout win over the New York Mets in game one of the National League Championship Series. The streak ended when Francisco Lindor of the Mets hit in a leadoff home run in game two on Monday in a 7-3 Mets win.
During the streak, the Dodgers bullpen was excellent. However, the Dodgers also got great starting pitching performances from Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty. The only other team to have 33 consecutive innings without giving up a run in the postseason are the Baltimore Orioles in the 1966 World Series.
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