All cards appear to be on the table for Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers as the post-season approaches.
Likely headed for his fourth MVP trophy, Ohtani has spent the year working out of the Dodgers' rotation and serving as the club's designated hitter. But according to a report from ESPN's Alden González, the two-way star could be shifting roles come October.
While González wrote that it is more likely that Ohtani will continue starting in the playoffs, the Dodgers are considering moving him to the bullpen to help their struggling relievers.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called it "something we're all talking about."
After spending all of 2024 recovering from elbow surgery, Ohtani returned to the mound for the first time with the Dodgers earlier this summer and has made 13 starts, posting a 3.29 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 41 innings.
Roberts called Ohtani "a very methodical, disciplined, routine-driven person," acknowledging that the club would be taking a risk by moving the right-hander to the bullpen, which may interrupt the process that the 31-year-old needs to be most effective on the mound.
MLB's two-way rule, which allows a player to remain in the lineup as a designated hitter if they are the starting pitcher and are replaced, is still in place during the post-season. However, if a designated hitter were to enter the game as a reliever, the team would lose the DH and the player would need to move to another position or be replaced in the lineup when they finish pitching.
This is where another potential role switch for Ohtani has come up, with the Dodgers star telling Japanese media that he would be open to playing the outfield after a potential relief outing.
"I've had conversations with various people, and the idea of me pitching in relief has come up," he said. "As a player, I want to be prepared to handle whatever role is needed. If I do end up pitching out of the bullpen, I think that could also mean I'd need to play in the outfield afterward, depending on the situation. So I want to be ready for anything, no matter what comes my way."
Ohtani played 8.1 innings in the outfield for the Angels in 2021, and spent significant time playing defence for the NPB's Nippon Ham Fighters before signing to play in MLB.
With a second-straight 50-homer season under his belt, there's no doubt just how valuable Ohtani's bat is to Los Angeles's lineup. But the Dodgers' bullpen entered play Wednesday as the 18th-ranked group by ERA on the season and could use some kind of reinforcement come a potential wild-card series.
The Dodgers also have a number of serviceable starters in the form of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan, so Ohtani's services could be best utilized in relief.
Roberts said "there's a lot of variables," when it comes to Ohtani playing in the outfield, but it's clear that the Dodgers aren't closing any doors just yet when it comes to the best deployment of their MVP in the hunt to repeat as World Series champs.
