Shohei Ohtani was the talk of the National League Championship Series for all the wrong reasons in 2026, and it prompted him to make a somewhat startling admission about his performance.
Ohtani struggled throughout the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, hitting just 3/13 during the series as his team was shockingly swept. The superstar credited the Brewers for their approach, and outright said they had “exposed” him at times.
“The Brewers were overall strong and a very good team, and it really exposed some of the parts of me as a player, and got to give some credit to that,” Ohtani said through an interpreter, via Buster Olney of ESPN.
One could certainly argue Ohtani is giving his opponents too much credit. He does not have many weaknesses, and there is certainly a case to be made that his injuries were the big problem. Ohtani himself refused to use that as an excuse, though.
On the other hand, Brewers pitchers did strike Ohtani out six times in the series, and they made him look pretty bad doing it. He will clearly have a lot to think about ahead of next season.
