As the Los Angeles Dodgers prepare for Game 5, they can't help but take a look back at what could've been. Following an 18-inning marathon in Game 3, the Dodgers were presented with a golden opportunity to follow through on Tuesday night. Had they held serve in Los Angeles, the Dodgers could've won the World Series in front of their own fans in Game 5. Instead, this series is knotted at two games apiece, despite starting one of the best pitchers in baseball, Shohei Ohtani, who was on a generational tear just a day prior.
Ohtani is the best player in baseball and, despite the language barrier that sets him apart from some of MLB's other stars, isn't afraid to take the brunt of criticism that comes with being the face of the league. At one point in Game 4, Ohtani had reached base safely in 13 consecutive at-bats at Dodger Stadium. While Shohei went 0-for-3 with a walk on Tuesday, he also threw six innings of relatively flawless baseball heading into the seventh inning. Sure, Ohtani was taken deep by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but that was the only blemish on his resume through six innings of Game 4. Then, the Blue Jays showcased what they do best, working counts on Ohtani and forcing him out of the game. This, he claimed through an interpreter to the media, was his greatest regret of the World Series so far.
"I wanted to go seven," Ohtani said, "and it was regrettable that I wasn't able to finish that inning."
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Shohei Ohtani has done more than enough for the Dodgers this postseason
Ohtani's first postseason as a starting pitcher is likely over now, as he flashed a 3.50 ERA across 18 innings pitched. While he hasn't had the marquee performances of a Yoshinobu Yamamoto, he's been among the Dodgers' best pitchers this October. It's hard to ask more from a man who also has eight home runs and 14 RBIs to his name.
The biggest issue with the Dodgers to this point in the World Series has been the lack of supplementary hitting. Outside of Ohtani, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman, no Dodgers' hitter has an OPS over .600. That's not going to cut it, especially against a Blue Jays lineup that can kill LA pitching by paper cuts. FanSided's Chris Landers highlighted this simple fact in his postgame column on Tuesday:
"Which brings me to my larger point. What does Los Angeles really have going for it right now? What can it fall back on? Outside of Ohtani, none of their other regulars are swinging the bat well. The minute that night's starter gets taken out of the game, the bullpen becomes a minefield," Landers asked.
The answer is not much. While Ohtani is perfectly content taking the blame, that's a losing mindset for the Dodgers. This team was not assembled for Ohtani to carry it to the finish line. The roster is littered with marquee names who aren't performing up to their paychecks this series. If Los Angeles is truly the superteam we've painted them out to be, they need someone else — literally anyone — to step up alongside their greatest star.
The days of Tungsten Arm O'Doyle aren't behind Shohei Ohtani
In May of 2021, back when Ohtani was a member of the Los Angeles Angels, a tweet went viral comparing the two-way superstar to the great-yet-fictional ballplayer Tungsten Arm O'Doyle.
“Every time I see an Angels highlight it’s like ‘Mike Trout hit three homes runs and raised his average to .528 while Shohei Ohtani did something that hasn’t been done since ‘Tungsten Arm’ O’Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen, as the Tigers defeated the Angels 8-3.’” the tweet read.
That tweet highlighted just how little help Ohtani had on those Angels teams, which inevitably played a big role in his choice to leave for the Dodgers — an organization that was more than willing to surround the greatest player of his generation with the talent he deserves. Up until the 2025 World Series, we (correctly) assumed the Dodgers had that level of talent. Heck, they still do! We just haven't seen it for the better part of a week.
For LA to reach its ultimate goal of breaking baseball (as Dave Roberts so eloquently put it) and win back-to-back World Series crowns, they'll need more than just Ohtani to show up.