Umpire Sean Barber did something almost nobody in the whole wide world can claim this easily. He managed to get under Ohtani’s skin. It’s not an easy feat. We’re talking about the man who happens to be the only player league-wide who greets the home plate umpires before his every plate appearance. For a demeanor this calm, what could possibly shake him?
During the sixth inning, when the Milwaukee Brewers were already 7-0 ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ohtani entered the plate. As a leadoff, he stepped up with a goal to get the Dodgers a lead. With a 3-2 score, the right-hander Freddy Peralta on the mound threw a changeup ball that was dropped below the zone and inside.
Umpire Barber was standing behind the plate. And he called it strike three. Ohtani, visibly frustrated, reacted in a way that was very unlike him. He murmured something, shook his head in denial, and made his way back to the dugout in an evident outburst.
You know it’s bad when Shohei has something to say pic.twitter.com/rodFucZdeH
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 8, 2025
He had every right to protest over the call. However, it stunned the fans watching a rare side of him. He argued with Barber under his breath, and it’s something he doesn’t usually do. As it seems, it might have been a buildup he has been carrying. Entering Monday night, the reigning NL MVP had only a .136 batting average as of July.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers, despite being 56-36 and first in the NL West, have lost three games in a row. After being swept by the Houston Astros, the reigning World Series champions were handed their fourth loss by the Brewers.
Right from the beginning of the game, the Brewers were in an attack mode. In the first inning itself, it all went downhill for the Dodgers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a three-run homer to Andrew Vaughn. In fact, it was his first at-bat for the Brewers. Still, their bats turned out to be too much for the Dodgers.
But in the end, the highlight of the game was Ohtani’s reaction to the call.
MLB fans’ divided reactions to Ohtani’s at-bat
When Ohtani was seen arguing with Umpire Sean Barber, some saw his reaction as justified, while others thought he overreacted. For the one who carries his calm and class hand in hand, this rare side of frustration immediately caught everyone’s attention.
With every controversy over a strike call, there is one collective reaction that keeps growing loud. “Why are the strike and ball calls getting progressively worse?” MLB fans have just witnessed a similar controversy in Sunday’s Mets’ 6-4 loss to the Yankees. Once again over a strike call, Mets’ manager Mendoza was ejected from the last game of the Subway Series. He loudly expressed his disagreement with the home plate umpire.
It’s against the MLB rules to argue with the umpire after any call. That led fans to question, “Players get thrown out for arguing balls and strikes. Why wasn’t Ohtani?” To clarify, not just players; even managers can get tossed over arguments with umpires. So, when Ohtani expressed his frustration and still wasn’t tossed, it raised eyebrows. For the record, Ohtani didn’t verbally argue over the strike call. He was visibly frustrated, sure, but he simply carried it back to the dugout.
The ones who related to his frustration took a hilarious jab over his reaction. “One day Shohei’s gonna snap and pick up an umpire and throw him 102 mph.” After all, the two-way phenom is back in his pitching form. Time and again, he has dominated the bats, throwing triple-digit pitches. Just on his 31st Birthday, Shotime struck out three against the Astros with his nasty breaking pitches. Plus, not that it’s new information, but just in the June 28 game against the Royals, he reached the fastest pitch of his career – 101.7 mph. So, the ones who see it as an unfair call simply gave Ohtani a hilarious revenge idea.
The Dodgers were coming off a brutal sweep by the Houston Astros. Now, after losing the opening game to the Brewers, the Dodgers have lost four games in a row. “Holy smokes! The Astros broke the Dodgers. Shohei, who is usually very level-headed, appears to be losing his mind. It’s sad to watch.” That’s a lot to take in for Dodgerland. Because, well, Ohtani losing his calm over umpire calls is certainly one of the rarest instances.
Now, Ohtani’s long-term fans get it better than most. “Othani has a right to say something.” Even after being hit by pitches recently by the Padres, he never let the frustration come to his face. Let alone arguing with the umpires. He’s known for his composure and patience. The most he has ever done to express his frustration was when he unfollowed a Padres player last month over the HBP controversy. So, yeah, sometimes even the calmest of the calms can snap…
Even though Ohtani’s uncharacteristic outburst shook the fans, in the end, he’s just a human, don’t put all the blame on him!!!
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