What was Dave Roberts’ advice to Shohei Ohtani?

Shohei Ohtani has not had the start to his maiden Dodgers season that he would have hoped for or expected. The team’s manager, Dave Roberts, said that he had spotted a few inconsistencies in the Japanese superstar’s at-bats and wanted to have a quiet word with him. This conversation now seems to be bearing fruit as ShoTime has hit seven home runs in 28 games, with three coming in the last seven days.

Ohtani’s last two hits have been a home run with an exit velocity of 118.7 miles per hour, and a double that drove in two RBIs with an exit velo of 115.6 miles per hour. He has been the Dodgers’ best hitter in recent games and Dave Roberts broke his silence about the conversation that they had.

What did Dave Roberts say to Shohei Ohtani?

Shohei Ohtani was only 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position, and Roberts knew that sort of performance simply wasn’t acceptable for a hitter like Ohtani. “I think it was more about seeing how they were throwing when there were runners in scoring position,” said the Los Angeles manager. “I thought he was widening his strike zone a little more than necessary. So I just wanted to have a conversation with him. Just trying to make him aware of what I think he could do better, what pitchers are trying to do to him, given his career and his tendencies.”

Shohei Ohtani himself admitted to reporters that he had been expanding his strike zone in the past and this chat has helped him improve his hitting in recent games. “My strike zone tends to be a little bigger with runners in scoring position,” said Ohtani through his interpreter Will Ireton. “When there are no runners on base, I’m pretty good at selectivity. So I have been widening the zone. And yes, we talked about it with Doc.”