For six years, Shohei Ohtani was left on the outside looking in at Major League Baseball’s postseason. Much, if not all, of that was due to the ineptitude of the Los Angeles Angels as an organization. The past few years, when Ohtani was clearly the best player in the sport, he was nowhere to be found during baseball’s most-watched time of year.
But for the first time in Ohtani’s career, the two-time league MVP will be playing in the postseason when the Dodgers take on the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, starting Saturday evening at Dodger Stadium. This is is huge — and not just for him.
Every sport should have its best players competing in the playoffs. The NBA playoffs without LeBron James, the NFL playoffs without Patrick Mahomes or the NHL playoffs without Connor McDavid would feel incomplete. Unfortunately, until now, baseball has been unable to see its biggest superstar on its biggest stage.
To understand the importance of Ohtani’s presence in the postseason, you have to go back to a time before he was the best in the game. For years prior to Ohtani’s emergence, his old teammate Mike Trout held that crown. And as Ohtani would soon find out, Trout, despite having some of the best offensive seasons in recent memory, reached the postseason just once during the peak of his powers. Even after he and Ohtani teamed up in Anaheim, they never finished higher than third in the AL West, despite being one of the most talented duos the sport has ever seen.
But when Ohtani signed with the Dodgers last offseason, his reaching the postseason became something of a forgone conclusion. Now the dream of seeing the game’s best player in high-pressure, high-leverage situations is reality, and it’s exactly what every baseball fan wants to see.
The 2024 regular season was one hell of a postseason preview for Ohtani, who exceeded even the loftiest expectations in his first year in Dodger blue. He had the best offensive season of his career, nearly won the Triple Crown and became the founding member of the 50/50 club. He’s the driving force in a talented L.A. lineup, having taken over as the team’s leadoff man when Mookie Betts broke his hand earlier this season.
There are a handful of players who have the ability to rise to the occasion when big moments present themselves, and Ohtani has shown time and again that he is one of those players. And there’s no better place than the MLB postseason to have that on full display.
When Ohtani closed for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic last year, we saw it. When he was a homer shy of 50-50, he delivered almost as if he knew the eyes of the world were on him, adding an extra home run for good measure. Even the mystique of him potentially returning from a torn UCL to pitch in the postseason, while it might not happen, the fact that there’s a non-zero chance only adds intrigue.
In Ohtani’s first taste of the postseason, any casting of his legacy being tarnished or on the line without a deep Dodgers run would be extremely hyperbolic. But if he performs well, it would add to an already lengthy résumé and the aura of who he has become as a player.
Historically, players who perform or don’t perform in the postseason are viewed in a different light, regardless of the rest of their achievements. Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Chipper Jones and Albert Pujols would all be Hall of Famers without ever having sniffed the postseason, but the fact that they were great in October only bolsters their legends.
Conversely, Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher of his generation, yet for much of his long and storied career, his lack of success in the playoffs has been part of his story.
For now, Ohtani has a clean slate. The chapter on his postseason legacy is unwritten. This month gives him his first opportunity on the trek toward becoming one of baseball’s immortals.
Now the world waits.
