In the last two seasons, Shohei Ohtani has delivered when the Los Angeles Dodgers have asked, time and time again. He enjoyed arguably the greatest single-game performance in MLB history in Game 4 of the 2024 NLCS, homering thrice and striking out 10 across six scoreless innings to close out the Milwaukee Brewers. Then, a few games later, he got on base a record nine times in the 18-inning marathon against the Toronto Blue Jays, recording four extra base hits and making the Blue Jays so scared to pitch to him that they intentionally walked him four times.
For the fourth time in Ohtani’s Dodgers career, his team has split the first two games of a series, and in two of the prior three instances, he stepped up with a big Game 3 performance. Los Angeles will need heroics from him again tonight at 6 p.m. ET, when it hopes to avoid going down 2-1 to the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.
It won’t be an easy task, as both teams will turn to their aces, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto starting for the Dodgers and Chris Sale for the Braves.
Los Angeles is a -115 favorite for tonight’s do-or-die affair at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the run total set to 6.5. Atlanta is -105 on the Moneyline.
Below, I’ve detailed my favorite prop bet centered around the three-time reigning MVP.
Best Shohei Ohtani Prop Bet on DraftKings Sportsbook
Shohei Ohtani 2+ Strikeouts (Batter) (-103)
Calls to replace Ohtani’s bat in the lineup with rookie Josue De Paula are premature, and De Paula can’t replace Andy Pages because he’s incapable of playing passable outfield defense. However, there just isn’t much going for Ohtani right now. He struck out four times against the St. Louis Cardinals on September 2, took four days off to reset his swing, struck out twice more, and went on the IL. Since returning, Ohtani put up a .558 OPS in his final five regular season games, including three multi-strikeout contests, and he’s just two-for-eight in this NLDS after going one-for-four with two noncompetitive strikeouts.
He could hardly ask for a harder matchup tonight than Sale. The southpaw, who’s likely to finish second in NL Cy Young Award voting, has posted a spectacular 32.7% strikeout rate against fellow lefties, holding them to a .592 OPS, and Ohtani struck out at a slightly higher rate against lefties than righties. Sale predominantly relies on his slider against lefties, throwing that pitch 39% of the time, and Ohtani batted just .161 with a 40.0% whiff rate against left-handed sliders. In Sale’s complete game shutout against the Dodgers on August 27, when he out-dueled Yamamoto in an instant classic, Ohtani struck out twice.
