Nobody on the Dodgers was probably happier to get out of Yankee Stadium than Shohei Ohtani. He struggled in that series, continuing a historical trend of off days at the plate in the Bronx. Now Ohtani and the Dodgers head home where Ohtani has been excellent this season. It would appear he's primed for a bounce-back series vs. the Rangers after going 2-for-13 against the Yankees, but he'll be facing a pitcher in Game 1 he's been unable to hit so far in his career.
Dane Dunning will take the mound for the Rangers to open the mid-week series in Los Angeles. Ohtani has faced Dunning 28 times in his career and is batting just .190 against him with a .690 OPS and five strikeouts. He's yet to to hit a home run off the big right-hander.
The good news is Ohtani has hit consistently at home this season. He's batting .328 at Dodger Stadium with a 1.011 OPS. He has eight of his 15 home runs at home and 12 of his 14 stolen bases. Interestingly he's also drawn 20 walks in 33 home games compared to just eight in 31 road games.
LA doesn't need Ohtani to suddenly start tearing the cover off the ball against Dunning. His at-bats in New York were good and inspire some confidence that he's finding the groove he was in to start the year when he looked like an MVP candidate. If he can continue putting together good ABs against Dunning and then continue hitting at home like he has all year, there's a chance we see Ohtani really go on a tear with the Dodgers' schedule due to ease up over the next couple weeks.
