{"id":677590,"date":"2026-04-17T12:00:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/677590\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:00:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:00:36","slug":"rockies-pitchers-on-facing-dodgers-superstar-shohei-ohtani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/677590\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockies pitchers on facing Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani"},"content":{"rendered":"

Someday, Victor Vodnik can regale his three young daughters, Ariel, Rose, and Viviana, with tales about his battles with Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani.\n<\/p>\n

But for the here and now, give Vodnik props for chutzpah.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s going to be awesome to tell them I faced Shohei Ohtani,\u201d the Rockies\u2019 late-game reliever said. \u201cBut for me, hopefully, he says, \u2018I got to face Victor Vodnik.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani and the mighty Dodgers, off to a 14-4 start,<\/a> are scheduled to open a four-game series against the Rockies at Coors Field on Friday night, weather permitting. If Yankee Stadium was the house that Babe Ruth built, Coors is the house that Ohtani wrecked. In 20 career games there, he\u2019s slashed .387\/.452\/.773 with seven home runs, including a 476-foot rocket off Austin Gomber<\/a> on June 18, 2024.\n<\/p>\n

Friday night, fellow Japanese player Tomoyuki Sugano is scheduled to start against the Dodgers. Sugano has faced Ohtani in only one game in the majors, as a starter for Baltimore last season. That was on Sept. 7 when Ohtani connected for his 47th and 48th home runs in his first two at-bats in the Dodgers\u2019\u00a0 5-2 victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a set game plan going in to face Shohei Ohtani yet,\u201d Sugano told The Post<\/a> during spring training. \u201cLast year, he hit two home runs off me, so as a Japanese player, I would like to attack him and try to be productive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani won\u2019t pitch during the series in LoDo because he started on Wednesday night in New York against the Mets in Los Angeles\u2019 8-2 victory. Ohtani dominated, allowing just one run while striking out 10 batters over six innings. The right-hander (who bats left-handed) generated 22 swings and misses. In three starts, his ERA is a sterling 0.50.
\n\"ShoheiShohei Ohtani (17) of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates hitting a solo homerun off of Austin Gomber (26) of the Colorado Rockies as fans erupt during the second inning at Coors Field in Denver on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)\n<\/p>\n

Ohtani did not hit on Wednesday because he was still sore from being struck on the back of his right shoulder by a pitch from the Mets\u2019 David Peterson on Monday. However, Ohtani is expected to be the designated hitter vs. the Rockies.<\/p>\n

Ohtani, 31, has won four MVP awards in the past five years, all of them unanimously. The two-way player wants another jewel in his glittering crown.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants a Cy Young,\u201d Dodgers backup catcher Dalton Rushing told ESPN<\/a> during spring training. \u201cAnd you can tell with the way he\u2019s carrying himself here recently.\u201d<\/p>\n

So maybe it\u2019s a good thing, for Ohtani, that he\u2019s not starting this time around at Coors Field. Last August, the Rockies hammered him for five runs<\/a> in four innings. Ohtani gave up career-high-tying nine hits as the Rockies rolled to an 8-3 victory.\n<\/p>\n

That was Ohtani\u2019s first regular-season start at Coors Field, even though he started for the American League in the 2021 All-Star Game, retiring all three batters he faced while going 0 for 2 at the plate in the AL\u2019s 5-2 victory over the National League. Ohtani was pitching for the Angels at the time.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u2018You have to be constantly bobbing and weaving\u2019<\/p>\n

When Ohtani steps up to the plate at Coors, Colorado\u2019s pitchers know they\u2019d better bring their best stuff. Veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland has seen how the slugger can demolish a pitcher with good intentions but bad execution. Ohtani is 7 for 11 (.636) with two home runs vs. Freeland.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single night, on everybody\u2019s lineup, he\u2019s always circled on the card,\u201d said Freeland, who\u2019s on the injured list with a sore shoulder.<\/a> \u201cHe\u2019s the guy you say, \u2018Do not let him be the guy to beat you, just because of what he\u2019s capable of on the offensive side of the ball.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

However, Freeland said a pitcher can\u2019t be afraid to go after Ohtani.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to shy away from him; you definitely still want to attack him,\u201d Freeland continued. \u201cHe\u2019s still human, he\u2019s still a baseball player like us, playing at the game\u2019s highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ColoradoColorado Rockies starting pitcher Ryan Feltner (18) delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Saturday, April 11, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo\/Denis Poroy)<\/p>\n

Right-hander Ryan Feltner, who\u2019s scheduled to start Saturday night\u2019s game, has had success vs. the Dodgers\u2019 star, limiting him to one double in seven at-bats.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI struck him out on three pitches in L.A. to start the game, so that was cool,\u201d Feltner recalled, looking back to the Dodgers\u2019 6-2 win over the Rockies on April 15 last season.<\/p>\n

But Feltner wasn\u2019t gloating.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to say he\u2019s just another guy with a bat, but that\u2019s not true,\u201d Feltner said. \u201cHe\u2019s got an incredible ability to cover a lot of different areas of the plate with incredible power. There are really only a few other players who can do that. (Houston\u2019s) Yordan Alverez is another one.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are certain guys who can take swings in a part of the zone where they shouldn\u2019t be able to do damage, but they do. You have to be constantly bobbing and weaving with Ohtani.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeland, who knows baseball history, appreciates the challenge of facing the Japanese legend.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing up against the very best, the 1% or the 1%, is always fun,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you come out on top, it\u2019s even better. Being able to face a guy like that, and being able to look back years from now and say, \u2018I battled against arguably the greatest baseball player we will ever see in our lifetime,\u2019 is pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vodnik calls Ohtani a \u201cgreat player,\u201d adding, \u201cThe things he\u2019s doing are unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the confident Vodnik is not shy about sharing his game plan on dispatching Ohtani.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, I have to trust my stuff,\u201d said Vodnik, who has limited experience facing Ohtani\u00a0 \u2014 2 for 4 with one strikeout and one walk in five plate appearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I can beat him up-and-in by throwing changeups,\u201d Vodnik continued. \u201cOr backfoot sliders that are well executed. I don\u2019t see him as any different than anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vodnik\u2019s game plan is to use Ohtani\u2019s strength against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe keeps his barrel in the zone for a very, very long time, and I think that\u2019s why it\u2019s good to go in on him,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIf (the batter\u2019s) going to be doing that, they have got to be ready to turn on that inside pitch. And that\u2019s really hard to do against a guy throwing 100 (mph).<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think that once you get him sped up, then you can slow it down and throw the changeup. Or vice versa. You can throw the changeup and speed it up later on. That\u2019s when it becomes a chess game, right? Also, I know that the last outing I faced him, I punched him out with a changeup. So maybe it\u2019s in the back of his mind, maybe it\u2019s not. We\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Vodnik\u2019s red warning light go on when Ohtani steps up to the plate?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, for me it\u2019s more so about my always having the same mentality,\u2019 Vodnik said. \u201cI\u2019m attacking you no matter who you are. That\u2019s just how I am. I have always been that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I study my reports, and I know their weaknesses and my strengths. For me, vs. Ohtani, it\u2019s a good matchup. I like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Someday, Victor Vodnik can regale his three young daughters, Ariel, Rose, and Viviana, with tales about his battles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[4707,1647,5,52,1009,759,5021,39,1022,1165,4332,4333,853,1024,774,57,3224,4331,4,1027,505,1945,468,185,775,5046,5000],"class_list":{"0":"post-677590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-austin-gomber","9":"tag-babe-ruth","10":"tag-baseball","11":"tag-colorado-rockies","12":"tag-coors-field","13":"tag-david-peterson","14":"tag-designated-hitter","15":"tag-dodgers","16":"tag-kyle-freeland","17":"tag-la","18":"tag-la-dodgers","19":"tag-ladodgers","20":"tag-latest-headlines","21":"tag-lodo","22":"tag-los-angeles","23":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","24":"tag-losangeles","25":"tag-losangelesdodgers","26":"tag-mlb","27":"tag-more-rockies-news","28":"tag-national-league","29":"tag-ryan-feltner","30":"tag-shohei-ohtani","31":"tag-sports","32":"tag-tomoyuki-sugano","33":"tag-victor-vodnik","34":"tag-yankee-stadium"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116419942161382834","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}