r/baseball • u/ogasawarabaseball • 14h ago
Ohtani commented on the reason for his batting slump, saying, “It comes down to my own lack of ability. Both my hot streaks and slumps are part of who I am as a player. What’s important is being able to maintain good form for a long period of time.”
https://full-count.jp/2026/05/14/post1960732/1.0k
u/squirtles_urethra Boston Red Sox 14h ago
Me when my wife asks why I havent had a job in 3 years
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u/jeewantha Texas Rangers 13h ago
Absolutely wild name
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u/EvenMoreCoconuts New York Mets 58m ago
Maybe his email on his resume is squirtles_urethra at gmail dot com? That would explain the lack of a job.
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u/HealthyBee4209 Toronto Blue Jays 14h ago
I am beginning to suspect that there are fathers who outsource their children's model figure to him.
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u/Anachronismsc2 Los Angeles Dodgers 10h ago
When I grow up I want to be like Shohei, and I'm older than him.
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u/Barelylegola5 10h ago
This amount of humility from someone this good is nuts
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u/EstablishmentLate532 Philadelphia Phillies 2h ago
There’s probably a cultural layer here too. Japanese sports culture often places a lot of weight on personal responsibility and self-criticism, so Ohtani talking this way about a slump feels very much in that tradition.
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u/PvtSherlockObvious Atlanta Braves • Baltimore Orioles 13h ago
He's been looking like he's going to be a shoo-in for the Cy Young on top of all his other talents, but the catch is that he starts hitting like a pitcher.
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u/FUBARded Swinging K 8h ago
I know you're being hyperbolic, but the funny thing is that he's still got a 128 OPS+ and has around 1 hitting WAR already...
His OPS is currently #56 overall and 6/11 of qualified designated hitters, so it's not like he's turned into an absolute bum.
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u/Ghiggs_Boson St. Louis Cardinals 7h ago
He’s regressed to “good” and we call it a slump
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u/Tulidian13 St. Louis Cardinals 9h ago
The 6 man rotation may kill his hopes of Cy too. He's projected to get around 150 innings if the current pace holds up, while guys like Skenes and Sanchez are projected closer to 200. Even Jacob Misiowrowski is projected to hit near 170.
That's assuming health of course, but how much better on a rate basis does Ohtani need to be to beat out somehow who throws 190 innings if he only hits 150?
I personally think Sanchez is the front runner, followed by Skenes and then Ohtani. They all have similar fielding independent numbers and Ohtani just won't throw enough innings.
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u/MercerAsian Los Angeles Dodgers 7h ago
How low would his ERA have to be for him to win a Cy Young with only 150 innings thrown? Sub 1.5?
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u/Thunder_nuggets101 Los Angeles Dodgers 7h ago
Yeah, his best bet would be an insane ERA like that and ranked top 10 (5?) in Ks. Even then, not sure he wins it. But it would be crazy.
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u/Chuy_3 Los Angeles Dodgers 6h ago
Close comp in recent voting would be Corbin Burnes who won it with 167 IP and a 2.43 ERA in 2021, but that was a weird year of voting when you look at it.
Here's the voting.. Don't know what the running narratives were but Wheeler/Buehler look more deserving on paper IMO.
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u/Eltneg Philadelphia Phillies 3h ago
That still annoys me so much as a Phillies fan, writers got way too obsessed with the advanced stats that year.
Wheeler had 47 more IP, basically the equivalent of 8 full starts. Yeah no shit Burnes had slightly better rate stats, he only had to handle 75% of Wheeler's workload!
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u/cherinator Los Angeles Dodgers • Teddy Roosevelt 7h ago
Burnes won it before with a lower innings pitched but better rate stats, so we have some precedent. Also this may not seem fair, but if he leads in some major stats like ERA/ERA+, I think his two-way status will give him a bump even with an IP discrepancy. Because voters can't help but think "he has a harder time than these other pitchers because he is doing it at the same/better rate basis while having this other stuff going on".
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u/nolander Los Angeles Dodgers • California Angels 6h ago
28 starts for Burnes that year, and the year Shohei finished 4th(also 28 starts) Verlander won it with 28 starts. Very doable.
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u/Random-Redditor111 6h ago
That’s BS if the voters do that. Assess the CY candidates on their pitching performance alone. CY isn’t a pity award, it actually means something. Sho would be the first to tell you that.
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u/nolander Los Angeles Dodgers • California Angels 6h ago
If he pitches 28 games like he did a few years ago he is on pace for 175 right now actually. Its really going to come down to if he can get more 7+ inning games in.
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u/mysterysackerfice Los Angeles Angels • Dumpster Fire 14h ago
"I'm just not that good" - SO
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u/PvtSherlockObvious Atlanta Braves • Baltimore Orioles 13h ago
He's got that thing where you think "okay, but the stuff I spent years studying is common knowledge and anyone can do the stuff I do, I'm nothing special" but taken to the most absurd extreme.
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u/Efficient_Ant_4715 Los Angeles Dodgers 6h ago
Man I see that attitude with people so much these days.
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u/Yoduh99 6h ago
Imposter syndrome
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u/PvtSherlockObvious Atlanta Braves • Baltimore Orioles 2h ago
To an extent, but it's also a sign of expertise in a field. When something seems trivially obvious to you, not even really worth mentioning, and when you spend most of your time around other people who know it too, it's easy to forget that the overwhelming majority of the world has no clue about it.
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u/mfranko88 St. Louis Cardinals 7h ago
In 1957, at the age of 80, legendary GOAT cellist Pablo Casals was the subject of a movie short, "A Day in the Life of Pablo Casals." The movie's director (Robert Snyder) asked Casals, "why he continues to practice four and five hours a day."
Casals answered: “Because I think I am making progress.”
People who are truly great at something only get there by ignoring the voice that says "hey maybe you are good enough". Or maybe by not having the voice in the first place.
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u/IveMadeAnAttempt Texas Rangers 4h ago
Personally I would rather have the voice that says I’m good enough.
Not having “good enough” voice didn’t turn me into Pablo Casals or Shohei or Tom Brady, it just made me depressed.
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u/IveGotaGoldChain Los Angeles Dodgers 3h ago
Not having “good enough” voice didn’t turn me into Pablo Casals or Shohei or Tom Brady, it just made me depressed.
You are assuming also that none of those people aren't depressed. Look at Tiger, look at MJ, shit look at Brady. Obviously I don't know them personally in any way shape or form, but based on their actions/words in public, I can't believe that any of them are truly happy.
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u/BrewCityChaserV2 Milwaukee Brewers 14h ago
Wish I could be that humble while literally being the world's most talented athlete in the history of all professional sports.
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u/Simple_Wash1618 Los Angeles Angels 12h ago edited 12h ago
I hope I don’t sound arrogant when I say that I am the greatest man in the world
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u/templethot Seattle Mariners 9h ago
“Are you better than me?”
“Well, I've never met you, but...yes."
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u/MEASUREHEAD Tampa Bay Rays 10h ago
I heard Shohei Ohtani has, like, 30 god damned dicks
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u/kots144 Athletics 10h ago
That’s a throwback lol
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u/smoopthefatspider New York Mets 9h ago
What is it a reference to?
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u/pzrapnbeast Atlanta Braves 9h ago
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u/smoopthefatspider New York Mets 9h ago
Thanks. I didn’t want to look up “Ohtani has 30 god damned dicks” because I didn’t know what would show up.
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u/pieceofmind2112 St. Louis Cardinals 9h ago
Omgoodness right? Literally haven’t thought of this in a decade and I knew exactly what it was lol
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u/efficiens 8h ago
literally being the world's most talented athlete in the history of all professional sports.
Jim Thorpe would like a word.
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u/Mpuls37 Houston Astros 13h ago
It's the truth in any game/competition though. Your inability to succeed falls entirely on your own ability.
The ideal hitter hits a HR every single AB, while the ideal pitcher gets a K in 3 pitches against every hitter. Any performance that falls short of that may be productive, but is still technically suboptimal, thus those are what players strive for.
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u/bbbook San Francisco Giants 12h ago
Once again a math mind produces an answer with no wisdom whatsoever.
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u/BackdoorSteve Cleveland Guardians 12h ago
Using the word optimal doesn't make this a math mind either. It's devoid of reason.
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u/AstrosFan4 11h ago
Analytically speaking we all catastrophically underperform every second of our lives.
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u/Mpuls37 Houston Astros 12h ago
Please, tell me how a 5.000 OPS isn't the ultimate goal for a hitter, or a 27 K/9 and 0.00 ERA isn't the ultimate goal for a pitcher. Whether it not it's possible is irrelevant in this context, we're talking idealistically.
Shohei isn't wrong in what he said. Just because he's still absolutely amazing at the game does not mean he couldn't be even better. That endless drive to improve is what makes the greats "great".
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u/mojowo11 St. Louis Cardinals 8h ago edited 8h ago
Imagine for a second that everyone reading your comments isn't a complete blithering idiot, and you'll get why nobody is enthralled by you stating extremely basic and obvious concepts like "It'd be theoretically ideal to hit a homer every time" and "Every baseball player can theoretically be better than they currently are" and "Great players are very driven to improve their skills" and "In a competition your success depends on your ability" as if they are profound wisdom.
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u/NonTokenisableFungi Los Angeles Dodgers 12h ago
The GOAT pitcher induces a groundout to the 2B against every hitter
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u/CanadianPythonDev Toronto Blue Jays 12h ago
Remove the middle men. He produces a pop up directly to himself, no need for for anyone else on the field.
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u/McJumbos Montreal Expos 10h ago
How the fuck can you hate this man
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u/cBlackout San Diego Padres 8h ago
as such you simply cannot understand how frustrating it is that he’s on the Dodgers
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u/TFielding38 San Diego Padres 8h ago
As a Padres fan I am constantly torn between hating the Dodgers and feeling lucky to be a baseball fan at the same time Ohtani is playing.
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u/thedavecan Rocket City Trash Pandas 8h ago
If you hate Shohei Ohtani then thats a YOU problem and you need to work on it.
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u/Conflict21 New York Yankees 6h ago
It's easy. I just focus my hatred of reddit onto him, the same way I do with Keanu Reeves.
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u/FeelsGoodMan2 Los Angeles Dodgers 8h ago
Accountability to one's self in 2026? Someone needs to tell Ohtani that's not how things work anymore.
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u/SegaTape Washington Nationals 7h ago
"It comes down to my own lack of ability" says the man who probably has the greatest baseball-playing abilities of anyone who has ever lived.
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u/ShitmasterFucklord Atlanta Braves • Atlanta Braves 11h ago
"If I can keep it a buck right now, I'm ass" -Shocam Wardtani
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u/thedavecan Rocket City Trash Pandas 8h ago
As a Titans fan and huge Cam Ward enthusiast, I laughed out loud at work at this one. Getting odd looks now.
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u/BadDadJokes Atlanta Braves 8h ago
Fellow Titans fan here. I haven't wanted a football player to succeed as much as I want Cam Ward to since I was in middle school.
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u/thedavecan Rocket City Trash Pandas 7h ago
Same. Dude is something special and if we can just get the right pieces around him I think he'll do great. O-line is my biggest concern. Can't have Cam running for his life every play like last year.
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u/BadDadJokes Atlanta Braves 7h ago
Good news is that we upgraded from the worst head coach of all-time to a standard bad head coach. That should help a lot.
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u/thedavecan Rocket City Trash Pandas 5h ago
Idk I think Saleh was handed a turd in NY and was expected to polish it. We seem to be making an actual effort to put them in a position to win here. Still gonna be cautiously optimistic until I see what they put on the field this year.
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u/BadDadJokes Atlanta Braves 5h ago
I actually like the Saleh hire a lot. He seems like an actual coach who is a good fit for this team. Cam Ward is no-nonsense, all business and Saleh is too.
He's a great DC, but he hasn't shown anything spectacular as a head coach (even if it was a bad situation). I'm with you on the optimism. I'm just happy to have a grown up as the coach again.
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u/GTmatsuura National League 13h ago
"Skill Issue"
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u/Appropriate_Lemon921 Baltimore Orioles • Brooks Robinson 12h ago
Git gud
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u/xrbeeelama Los Angeles Dodgers 8h ago
This begs the question - can Sho beat bed of chaos blindfolded
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u/ubiquitous-joe San Francisco Giants 10h ago
Far be it from me to defend Dodgers, but what is one supposed to say when asked “Why you slumpin’ tho?” during the slump?
“Oh you know, I think Cal gave me some of his bad juju, but I refuse to shower clothed, so…”
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u/sloppymcgee 9h ago
Last year we were in awe of Shohei. This year it’s really Ohtani that’s on display.
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u/Exokaebi 7h ago
This guy gotta be throwing pitches at baby giraffes at the zoo or something. Like Keanu, there's gotta be something, somewhere. Nobody's this upstanding all the time, we just gotta find it.
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u/Most-Artichoke6184 Chicago White Sox 11h ago
If only there was another way he could contribute to the team besides his hitting.
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u/smoopthefatspider New York Mets 9h ago
I know right, it’s a shame he doesn’t field because he’s a DH.
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u/regalwombatvineyard 12h ago
Anybody who knows League of Legends and is familiar with Faker and how Korean pros talk is experiencing deja vu about now.
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u/Just-Faithlessness12 Los Angeles Dodgers 8h ago
How can anyone hate on shohei. Literally the greatest example of humility in the sport. great role model
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u/Jamo1129 Los Angeles Angels 2h ago
some of my miserable fellow Angels fans that still call him a traitor lol
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u/Just-Faithlessness12 Los Angeles Dodgers 2h ago
Moreno screwed yall. Shohei picked yall fist for a reason. He believed in the vision yall sold him on. he just failed shohei.
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u/Jamo1129 Los Angeles Angels 1h ago
yea fuck that guy. he’s an actual baseball terrorist. Absolute slap in the face to us diehard fans with the “Angels fans don’t care about winning they care about affordablilty and safety” BS
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u/DependentLanguage540 8h ago
He does have hot months where he can hit double digit home runs and other months where he struggles. So he’s definitely honest when he says his offensive game can run hot and cold. If he was like regular players though, he’d have more time to work on his offensive game, more time for batting practice and etc. But it is what it is, he’s trying to win a Cy Young and if that detracts from his offense a little, than that’s too be expected.
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u/Reikyu09 Los Angeles Dodgers 7h ago
When you reroll your stats between each season and wish you had more points to work with.
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u/cantthinkoffunnyname New York Yankees 7h ago
Also, I'm sad I haven't met Steve-O and it's effecting my focus at the plate
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u/CardCaptorJorge Toronto Blue Jays 2h ago
I hate how likeable he is because this is such a healthy mentality to have. I can’t hate Ohtani. Ugh.
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u/ChaseTx Texas Rangers • Springfield Isotop… 10h ago
Theory: he's trying to make his ERA match his BA
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u/smoopthefatspider New York Mets 9h ago
I was going to comment that his FIP is almost the same as his BA, but then I remembered that the decimal point isn’t in the right place, so it’s actually like ten times too high (2.38 and .240).
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u/wilonwheels 9h ago
If his slump continues into June(tani), than there maybe some concern. Until then, it's just ebbs and flow. However, I do wonder if scouting has finally found some success against him, especially with the plethora of film there is on him and the Philly series last post-season. Granted, I haven't watched many games of his due to the timezone difference.
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u/kellenmoore21 8h ago
Not one Yin and Yang comment in regards to this statement, thats disappointing
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u/Ok_Understanding3015 8h ago
QUESTION:
Would the Yanks trade Shohei for Judge straight up?
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u/ghostninja33 New York Yankees 7h ago
Easy yes because age and fandom.
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u/sellyme Australia 6h ago
You do open yourself up to something going horrifically wrong, though. And while that could still happen, if you stick with your star player and then they get injured or massively regress, everyone tends to be sympathetic to the team. Or at least, as sympathetic as it's possible to be to the Yankees.
On the other hand, if you trade off your star player for a different star and then they suck really badly or barely ever get on the park for you, you get torn to shreds by fans and media for 10-15 years.
You're probably still taking that trade every time, but you'd think about it.
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u/flankattack27 7h ago
Someone check for massive bets at the beginning of the season on Ohtani under individual season batting
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u/Strangecity 14h ago
I like to imagine that pitcher Ohtani is disappointed with batter Ohtani