Pitchers keep walking Shohei Ohtani because, in a lot of game situations right now, the math says a free pass to first base is less dangerous than giving him something to hit.

What just happened with Ohtani?

In the 2025 World Series, the Blue Jays literally reached the point where their “strategy” became: don’t let Ohtani swing at all if they can help it.

He went 4-for-4 with two homers and two doubles in Game 3, then got intentionally walked four straight times — the first time that has ever happened to a hitter in a postseason game.

A manager basically looked at the greatest hitter on earth, in the middle of a historic hot streak, and said: “Nope. We’re done pitching to him.”

Why teams keep walking Ohtani

Here’s the logic from the dugout, even if it drives fans crazy:

  • Ohtani is an elite power threat: in this World Series stretch he’s mashing homers and extra‑base hits at an absurd rate, with an October OPS over 1.400.
  • One swing can instantly flip or end a game, especially when he’s the tying or winning run in late innings.
  • Managers prefer:
    • A guaranteed single (the walk)
    • Versus a real chance at a game‑ending bomb or rocket into the gap.

In multiple extra‑inning spots, Ohtani came up as the potential tying or winning run with the bases empty, and Toronto chose to just put him on and face the next hitter instead.

Analysts digging into win‑probability numbers even showed that in some of those bases‑empty situations, the intentional walk actually increased the Dodgers’ chances to win, meaning the “safe” call may not have been that smart strategically.

Why fans (and some analysts) hate it

A lot of the backlash is emotional and analytical:

  • Fans feel robbed: everyone wants to see Ohtani decide the game with the bat, not trot to first over and over.
  • On forums, people call the strategy “spineless” and argue that if you’re in the World Series, you should be willing to challenge the best, not hide from him.
  • Sabermetric breakdowns have argued that walking him with no one on base, especially with one out, is just bad math and gives the offense free leverage.

That’s why you’re seeing posts and memes like “MLB should make a rule where you can only walk Ohtani once,” half joking and half actually annoyed with how often he’s getting a free base right now.

So, the short version

Teams “keep walking Ohtani” because:

  • He’s on a ridiculous heater where almost every real pitch to him feels like a risk of instant disaster.
  • Managers are choosing what looks like the safer route: a free base rather than a possible game‑ending swing.
  • But the more this happens, the more fans, media, and number‑crunchers are pushing back, arguing that overusing the intentional walk against him is both bad strategy and bad entertainment.

TL;DR: They keep walking Ohtani because he’s terrifying at the plate right now and one mistake can lose the game, but there’s a growing debate that avoiding him this much is cowardly and not even optimal strategy.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.