Shohei Ohtani shares what's difficult about playoff baseball after his postseason debut

Things really didn't look too difficult for Shohei Ohtani on Saturday night as he went 2-for-5 with three runs batted in in the first game of the postseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Ohtani's first-ever MLB postseason game. The Dodgers won 7-5 on their home court.

Of course, Ohtani has yet to play for a team that qualified for the postseason, although he did win two MVP awards with the Los Angeles Angels in 2021 and 2023.

After the game, Ohtani shared what he said was the “hardest” part of playing a first postseason game while also discussing his teammate’s struggles.

When asked about Yoshinobu Yamamoto's struggles on the mound, Ohtani explained, “It's really hard to play easy in the first game of a playoff series. I’m sure Yoshinobu wasn’t happy with his performance today.”

In addition to being the first game of the series, the Dodgers had five days off since securing a first-round bye in the National League.

Although this is Ohtani's first MLB playoff game, he played deep in the postseason during his time in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.