Sept. 9—The Chicago Cubs will be the next team to take a close look at Shohei Ohtani when they open a three-game road series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.
Ohtani hit his 46th home run of the season against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. He also stole 46 bases and, with 19 regular season games remaining, is on pace for the first 50-50 season in MLB history.
Ohtani tied Alfonso Soriano (2006) for most homers in a 40–40 season.
“Man, you’ve never seen guys hit the ball as far and as hard as he does,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Make it at home.”
As the historic milestone approaches, Ohtani continues to say it’s all about the team, though a 50-50 finish could earn him his third MVP award and the first for a player who is primarily a designated hitter.
“It’s something I’ll look at at the end of the season,” Ohtani said through a translator. “It’s more important to win games and series, and luckily we were able to do both (Sunday).”
The Dodgers have won for the eighth time in their last 11 games and have either won or tied their last nine games. The Dodgers (86-57) are six games ahead of the San Diego Padres for second place in the NL West.
Los Angeles will field right-hander Walker Buehler (1-4, 5.67 ERA) on Monday. Buehler, who returned from a two-year absence following his second Tommy John surgery, has started 12 games and has allowed just two hits in each of his last two games.
In six career games (five starts) against the Cubs, Buehler is 1–2 with a 3.86 ERA.
The Cubs (73-70) will face off against right-hander Kyle Hendricks (3-11, 6.60), who hasn’t pitched at Dodger Stadium since 2019.
Hendriks started strong against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, allowing two runs in five innings in the loss.
Hendriks made seven career starts against the Dodgers and was 3-3 with a 5.68 ERA and nine home runs in 38 innings. In three starts in Los Angeles, he went 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA and allowed four home runs in 14 innings.
The Cubs finished August with an 8-1 record and boosted their playoff hopes, but lost four of their last six games. Although they scored two runs in the entire series, they lost two of three games at home against the New York Yankees.
The Cubs began a six-game road trip on Monday, leaving only nine road games remaining in the season. The Cubs allowed an average of 4.0 runs in 71 home games and 5.0 runs in 72 road games.
“Some of it might be randomness, and some of it might be the wind blowing (at home) almost every day this year,” Chicago president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “… I don’t think you can really think about it until the season is over. All of those things allow us to really make these (roster) adjustments.”
–Visual-level media
