Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani adjusts a microphone while talking to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers players throw during a workout on Tuesday night in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Injured Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw walks onto the field for a team workout on Tuesday night in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers players throw during a workout on Tuesday night in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) New York Mets players throw during a workout on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) New York Mets pitcher Luis Severino talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) An empty Citi Field is seen before team workouts by the Dodgers and the New York Mets on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Show Caption1 of 22Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) Expand NEW YORK — In the locker room after the Dodgers’ loss in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, the media surrounded Mookie Betts at his locker in the far corner of the clubhouse. Betts was asked about Shohei Ohtani’s odd splits in the postseason – 6 for 8 with runners on base, 0 for 19 with the bases empty. “I think Shohei will be fine,” Betts said with a weariness in his voice – dismissive that anyone should doubt, as Betts and other Dodgers teammates have called Ohtani, “the best player on the planet.” But Ohtani has been as much mild-mannered Clark Kent as Superman during the first postseason of his MLB career. The Game 1 home run against the San Diego Padres in his second at-bat of the NL Division Series was a spectacular moment, punctuated by a violent bat fling by an emotions-unleashed Ohtani. He singled in his next at-bat. Since that superhero moment, though, Ohtani has been very mortal – 4 for 24 with 12 strikeouts, including 2 for 7 in the first two games of the NLCS against the New York Mets. “What I really focus on is how I feel at the plate,” Ohtani said through his interpreter before the Dodgers’ workout at Citi Field on Tuesday. “If I’m feeling good and the results aren’t there, then I’m not too concerned because there’s luck involved. “Now, if there’s a situation where I don’t feel good at the plate and I’m not doing well, or it’s not leading to good results, then it’s something that I look into to make sure physically, mechanically, making sure that that’s all fine tuned.” Ohtani said he feels “okay” at the plate right now. But he has looked befuddled at times by three pitchers, in particular. Padres lefty Tanner Scott faced Ohtani four times in the NLDS and struck him out all four times. Mets lefty Sean Manaea retired Ohtani three times in NLCS Game 2, twice on strikeouts. And Ohtani went 0 for 6 with three strikeouts in two NLDS starts by Padres right-hander Yu Darvish – described by Ohtani as his “childhood hero.” “I was surprised that he expanded (chased out of the strike zone) versus Darvish,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Scott is just – it’s nitrous coming at you with the slider. That’s just a tough at-bat for any left-hander. Manaea, I just can’t imagine the ball coming from first base coming at you and then trying to hit him.” As the weariness in Betts’ response indicated – this is the kind of scrutiny that comes with being one of the elite players in the game. Ohtani is certainly not alone among those stars in struggling to replicate his regular-season success in the postseason. The presumptive American League MVP, Aaron Judge, went into the Yankees’ ALCS Game on Tuesday night with a .204 career batting average in postseason play, including 2 for 15 (.133) this year. Seven-time NL MVP Barry Bonds was a .196 hitter in the postseason before breaking through with the San Francisco Giants in 2002. Three-time AL MVP Alex Rodriguez was a .259 hitter in the postseason. And Betts himself had to break an 0-for-22 postseason slump this October. “It’s hard for me to say if I’m at the same standard as the players you mentioned,” Ohtani said humbly. “This is my first experience in the postseason, so I can’t really rely on the experiences or my reflection in the past. But what I do know is that we’ve been playing against good teams, better teams, with their best pitchers. So being able to get base hits, put up results isn’t as easy maybe as it could be. “And so with that being said, my focus really is on just whatever happened in the previous game, that’s it. And I’m really focused on the next game and something that perhaps I would reflect back once everything is over.” The strangest thing about Ohtani’s postseason performance has been the wide difference between his results with runners on or the bases empty. That has prompted questions about the lineup and whether Roberts should put Betts back at leadoff with Ohtani second – the arrangement for the first 73 games of the season until Betts suffered a fractured hand. Roberts said he has “not really” given that any consideration. 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I think he’s our best hitter, and I want him up there five times.” Whether those at-bats come with runners on base or not doesn’t really matter, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I don’t think you change (how you pitch to him),” Mendoza said. “He’s Shohei Ohtani. He’s one of the best hitters in the league. Whether there’s nobody on base or people on base, you’ve got your work cut out. And you have to manage the game and see how you’re going to attack him, how you’re going to pitch to him in certain situations. “But like I said, runners on base, no runners on, he’s an elite hitter. He’s dangerous. I don’t think it changes much.” Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani talks to reporters on Tuesday in New York ahead of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)