Shohei Ohtani is the most talented player to ever grace a baseball field. When locked in at the plate, he is the best hitter in the world. When fully healthy, the argument could also be made that he is the best pitcher in Major League Baseball.
If you are the Los Angeles Dodgers, you love that. Having the best player on the mound and in the batter’s box gives them an edge in every series.
So what is the situation, and is it a problem?
It is kind of like when a football coach answers questions about having two good options at quarterback. They will often say, “It is a good problem to have.”
The same can be said about Ohtani being the best option for the Dodgers as a starting pitcher or leadoff hitter. It is a great problem to have, but still something that Dave Roberts has to rack his brain over on a daily basis.
Ohtani is off to a blistering start in his first fully healthy season with the Dodgers as a pitcher. He has a 0.82 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched. He is one of the favorites to win the National League Cy Young Award, and has been the two-time defending champs’ best option on the mound so far in 2026.
“He wants to be the best pitcher in baseball, and right now he is doing it,” said Roberts. “He is a different person when he is pitching. I think he wants to win the Cy Young, and that helps the Dodgers in 2026.”
At the same time, Ohtani is having his worst season as a member of the Dodgers at the plate. He is batting .240 with 7 home runs and 44 strikeouts. He has only hit 2 balls out of the park in his last 24 games, something that would have been extremely alarming during his first 2 years with the club when he was primarily just a designated hitter.
“Last year, there were conversations that he shouldn’t pitch and just be a hitter, and now it has kind of flipped on its head. I can’t imagine what goes through his mind,” said Roberts, “When he is on the mound, you expect a no-hitter, and when he is hitting, you expect 2 homers.”
With Ohtani struggling at the plate recently, so has the rest of the team. The most expensive lineup in baseball was averaging just over 3 runs per game over their last 13, and that includes a 12-run explosion against the Astros.
The Dodgers were 4-9 during the stretch, far from the championship standards they have become accustomed to.
It would be unfair to say Ohtani has been “bad” this season as a hitter; he has just not been the guy who hit 154 home runs over the last 3 seasons and posted an OPS over 1.000 in all 3 campaigns.
It would also be unfair to say his full-time spot in the starting rotation is the reason for his decline in production at the plate. It is not like this is the first time he has done both.
With the Angels from 2021-2023, Ohtani started at least 23 games as a pitcher each season, and during that span, he batted .277 with 124 home runs. He won 2 MVPs and finished a close second to Aaron Judge the year he did not receive the award.
There is a track record of success when it comes to doing both, but the numbers also suggest he might never be the same guy at the plate as he was during his time strictly as a designated hitter.
The dip in production at the plate is well worth the return the Dodgers are receiving on the mound. Ohtani is the best pitcher in the world right now, and this is the best he has ever been in terms of throwing the baseball in the majors.
He posted another scoreless start against the Giants on Wednesday night, helping snap a 4-game losing streak for his team. It is the fourth time Ohtani has not given up a run this season as he appears to be laser-focused on adding a Cy Young to his resume, the only major award he has yet to add to the back of his baseball card.
Back to the question at hand. Is this a problem, even if a good one?
Dave Roberts job as manager has become more difficult than ever as he looks to lead his team to a third straight World Series title.
He has to approach this situation with caution to keep Ohtani healthy until October, while also giving him a long enough leash to chase the title of best pitcher in the National League.
That means taking some days off as a hitter.
“It is always good to have him in the lineup, but I think that we are doing it for the right reasons, so regardless of the result, we feel good about it. We are doing it for him to give him the best chance to be the best player he can be. It does not feel good not writing him into the lineup, but that is just the way it is. We have wrapped our heads around that and feel good about it,” said Roberts.
The competition is steep. Paul Skenes, Jacob Misiorowski, Cristopher Sanchez, Chris Sale, and his teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto are all looming and are seemingly locks to finish the year with great numbers as well. So Ohtani has to keep pitching every 5 or 6 days for the entire season if he wants to keep up with the guys whose entire paycheck is earned by taking the mound.
If that means not penciling his name in the lineup on his start days, it is something the Dodgers will have to live with. You have to let the greatest chase greatness, and it would be a shame if Ohtani never got the chance to win a Cy Young because of how dominant he also is at the plate.
“Most times it’s best to take it out of the player’s hands. We have a good enough relationship that he understands I am doing this for him and the team. Even if he were to disagree with it, I think it is the best process right now,” said Roberts.
While the Dodgers’ goal is to cement themselves as one of the greatest teams of all time, Ohtani’s quest is slightly different. He is seeking individual success in addition to the team’s success, and the Dodgers were well aware of that when they signed him to the largest contract in MLB history.
The situation at hand is a luxury rather than a burden, and it will be interesting to see how Roberts continues to manage it throughout the year. So far, he and his staff have handled it perfectly.
Benjamin Verbrugge is a reporter for News4usonline who studied journalism at CSU Dominguez Hills. “Sports have brought me much joy throughout my life, and I want to give a little back to something that has meant so much to me.” Email Benjamin at benverbrugge8@gmail.com.
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