Shohei Ohtani shares what’s difficult about playoff baseball after his debut playoff game

Things really didn’t look too difficult for Shohei Ohtani on Saturday night as he went 2-for-5 with three runs batted in in the first game of the postseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Ohtani’s first-ever MLB postseason game. The Dodgers won 7-5 on their home court.

Of course, Ohtani has yet to play for a team that qualified for the postseason, although he did win two MVP awards with the Los Angeles Angels in 2021 and 2023.

After the game, Ohtani shared what he said was the “most difficult” part of a first postseason game and talked about his teammate’s struggles.

When asked about Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s struggles on the mound, Ohtani explained through an interpreter after the Dodgers’ win: “It’s really hard to play easy in the first game of a playoff series.” “I’m sure Yoshinobu will be fine today with his “I wasn’t happy with my performance.”

In addition to being the first game of the series, the Dodgers had five days off since securing a first-round bye in the National League.

Although it is the first MLB playoff game for Ohtani, he played deep in the postseason during his time in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.