Ohtani might be on his way to an MVP season as a DH, but he's just as focused on becoming a two-way star again.
Xavier Scruggs details how the Dodgers should handle Shohei Ohtani next season when he is able to pitch again. ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.played what amounted to an intense game of catch. His throws came from a standstill position, a wide-legged stance, a crow-hop and a leg-kick, 71 in total.
Ohtani accumulated 26.1 fWAR during the three-year stretch from 2021 to 2023 in which he pitched and hit simultaneously, generating nearly five more wins than the next-closest player,-- the only one who prevented him from winning three consecutive MVPs. He slashed .277/.379/.585 with 124 home runs and 57 stolen bases in 447 games, but he also posted a 2.84 ERA and struck out 542 batters in 428⅓ innings.
It might be why Ohtani was able to come back to hitting by Opening Day, barely six months after surgery. And it's partly why the Dodgers, who signed Ohtani to a record-breaking 10-year, $700 million contract in December, are hopeful about his two-way future. Ohtani has already been a two-way star longer than Babe Ruth, who tried it more than 100 years ago and barely lasted two seasons. The odds of him continuing as a hitter and a pitcher for what remains of his career seem exceedingly low, largely because his only precedent no longer applies.
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