Dave Roberts Can't Blame John Schneider For Not Wanting To Pitch To Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani's greatness is often difficult to comprehend.

But Blue Jays head John Schneider's strategy successful attempting to limit Ohtani—who belted 2 location runs successful Los Angeles's Game 3 marathon victory—by not pitching to him astatine each whitethorn person been a model into knowing conscionable really unfathomably bully Ohtani is.

Opposing managers tin show you pinch a consecutive look that they would alternatively woody pinch a erstwhile American League MVP and batting champion successful Mookie Betts and a erstwhile National League MVP and World Series MVP successful Freddie Freeman than transportation to Ohtani. The crazier portion is, it makes sense!

The Dodgers two-way superstar was intentionally walked 4 times connected Monday night, arsenic Schneider had seen capable of Blue Jays pitchers attempting to get him retired en way to Ohtani racking up 4 other guidelines hits earlier successful nan contest.

And Schneider made it clear this wasn't a one-off.

"Yeah," Schneider said erstwhile asked if his strategy towards Ohtani is what "we should expect moving forward." If anyone understands nan strategical dilemma that Ohtani presents to Schneider, it's Ohtani's ain head Dave Roberts.

Roberts understands why Schneider won't transportation to Ohtani

"No—It’s—I get it," Roberts said of Schneider indicating he'll proceed to intentionally locomotion Ohtani. "He’s nan champion subordinate connected nan satellite and he was connected nan heels of a immense violative nighttime and John smelled that and wasn’t going to fto Sho hit him astatine each obviously. And moreover erstwhile nobody’s connected guidelines and putting him connected to make nan different guys hit him…

"And fortunately we person different guys down Shohei that tin still do immoderate things…"

Here's really nan different guys—Betts and Freeman—have fared against Blue Jays pitching compared to Ohtani done 3 World Series games.

Certainly seems for illustration a worthwhile strategy for nan Blue Jays. But it's not for illustration Schneider is precisely jumping for joyousness astatine nan imaginable of pitching to Betts and Freeman, nan second of who won Monday night's crippled pinch a walk-off homer.

"His capacity was really good," Schneider said. "He's arguably nan champion subordinate connected nan planet. I deliberation you benignant of respond successful existent clip a small bit. Again, they person a really talented lineup. It's not nan easiest point successful nan world to conscionable locomotion him and look Mookie and Freddie... So each business is different.

"You sewage to really execute astatine a precocious level against him. And I deliberation nan first mates games we did. I cognize he deed nan homer disconnected of Fish [Braydon Fisher] successful Game 1, but I deliberation that we executed beautiful good minus today. He's a awesome subordinate and he took immoderate really bully swings today."

There's a adjacent statement that nan Blue Jays shouldn't transportation to Ohtani again this series. We'll find retired really they attack him successful Game 4 astatine 8 p.m. ET connected Tuesday night.

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