The showdown between Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kodai Senga of the New York Mets took place in the fall baseball league. How much impact will the opponent team’s performance in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) have.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets will play the first game of the 2024 MLB National League Championship Series (NLCS, best-of-seven) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on the 14th (Korea time).
On the day, the Mets put in Senna and the Dodgers put in Jack Flaherty. Senna pitched in one game (July 27 against Atlanta) this season and became the winning pitcher with two hits, nine strikeouts and two runs allowed in five ⅓ innings, but it was his only regular-season pitching. In contrast, Flaherty appeared in a total of 28 games for the Detroit Tigers and the Dodgers, recording 13 wins, seven losses and an ERA of 3.17.
Since entering the Major League last year, Senga has played 166 ⅓ innings in 29 games in his first season with his main weapon, “Ghost Fork,” and had a successful debut season with 12-7 losses, 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts. However, he took the mound in only one regular league game this year due to fatigue in his right arm, a triceps injury and a calf sprain, and took the mound in Game 1 of the Philadelphia Phillies and National League Division Series on the 6th, and went down after serving as an opener with three strikeouts and one run in two innings.
Ohtani will play as the Dodgers’ first designated hitter in the game. He had a batting average of 0.310 (197 hits in 636 at-bats) with 54 homers, 130 RBIs, 134 runs and 59 steals in 159 games during the regular season, marking the first 50 (homer)-50 (homer) in the history of OPS 1.036. However, he played his first fall baseball game in seven seasons in the Major League, and only had a batting average of 0.200 (four hits in 20 at-bats) with the San Diego Padres in the Division Series.
Ohtani Sengawa has experience in NPB. Ohtani, who used to play for Nippon-Ham, met Senga, a member of Softbank, and recorded five hits, two walks, and a batting average of 0.227. He has two homers, but he has 13 strikeouts, more than half of the total. Another point to watch is how the outcome of the two extremes will unfold in the face-off. Last year, he had one hit and two outs in one at-bats in the Major League.
Ohtani faced off against another Japanese pitcher, Yu Darvish, in Game 5 of the NLDS. On the day, Ohtani had difficulty pitching around Darvish’s breaking ball, recording no hits in three times at bat and two strikeouts.
According to the Japanese media The Digest, Senga, who met with reporters on the 12th, a day before the first game, replied with a smile, saying, “There is no pitcher to tell me that.” “Not only the Dodgers, but also the strong team or the good hitter, I’ll get hit with a real pitch,” he said. “I’ll do my best (in the first game).” 안전놀이터
