What Dodgers should read into Shohei Ohtani’s remarks on two-way role

Shohei Ohtani wishes to be a two-way gamer once again next season.

What he stated was anticipated.

How he stated it was uneasy.

“I plan on doing whatever,” he stated in Japanese.

Is next season predestined to end the method this one provided for the Dodgers, with a broken-down Ohtani rendering their lineup incapable of producing the offense needed to go back to the World Series?

Not always.

As Ohtani catalogued his aggravations from his injury-plagued season after the Dodgers were purged of the playoffs by the Brewers on Thursday night, one specific failure appeared to trouble him more than the others.

“I wasn’t able to pitch in the postseason,”he stated.

This was either the very best news the Dodgers might have gotten or a sudden death knell for their next season.

Depend upon what Ohtani does to enhance his opportunities of pitching next October.

Does he customize his in-season pitching schedule and accept some type of load management?

That would provide him an opportunity, not just to pitch in video games that matter most, however likewise to stay the difference-making player the Dodgers require him to be.

Or does he merely alter his offseason exercise program in hopes that he can reinforce his body to where it can endure pitching and striking from Opening Day to the last video game of the World Series?

Thinking about how rapidly his season was thwarted and the results those injuries had on him as a player, that strategy would be an invite for catastrophe.

Ohtani turns 33 next year.

He didn’t define what he was believing, aside from that he would begin pondering a strategy now that the Dodgers remained in their offseason.

The uncertainty that was both a source of optimism and issue was the outcome of how Ohtani attended to press reporters.

A crowd of reporters from the United States, Japan and who understands where else formed a semicircle around Ohtani, who fielded queries in a scattershot question-and-answer session that lasted about 7 minutes.

Normally speaking, the concerns he was asked were doing not have in information– or, sometimes, the information were lost as they travelled through Ohtani’s interpreter. When Ohtani stated something notable– the declarations estimated above, for instance– more pointed concerns on the topic could not be asked due to the fact that another reporter wished to inquire about something completely various.

When Ohtani acknowledged that he might go through offseason surgical treatment however didn’t state what body part he may have to fix, there was no follow-up concern on the topic. Some bozo Japanese press reporter at the front of the mob asked a needlessly verbose concern about what he, Shohei Ohtani, saw in the Brewers that the Dodgers were doing not have.

(Ohtani was understood to be handling pain in his ideal arm and left knee when he was put on the hurt list in September. That was most likely still the case in the playoffs. When supervisor Dave Roberts was asked what was troubling Ohtani before Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, he responded, “It’s whatever. It’s the upper body. It’s the knee.”)

While Ohtani left unanswered concerns about his health status, and maybe intentionally so, he made it an indicate state on his desire to be a two-way gamer once again.

He mentioned his dissatisfaction of not having the ability to take the mound in the playoffs, in addition to at the end of the routine season.

“That’s a point of discontentment,” Ohtani stated.

He continued, “Of course, I seem like I wish to continue. Since of that, I wish to have a great offseason.”

After stating he prepared on “doing whatever,” Ohtani stated, “I desire to do my finest so that I can have a much better season.”

Effort alone will not make that occur, obviously, and this is where the Dodgers need to action in. Instead of continue to be his servants, they need to be his partners.

Functionality does not interest Ohtani. Dreams do.

Offer him on a dream.

Ohtani on the mound on the planet Series, possibly in a Game 7. Unlike in 2025 when the Dodgers were playing the Blue Jays and Ohtani lasted simply 2 1/3 innings, this time he is the winning pitcher.

The Dodgers can get him there, perhaps by offering him more time in between starts, possibly by holding him out as a pitcher in the early phases of the season.

Ohtani does not sound as if he has a firm strategy in location, which suggests the Dodgers have a chance to form his thinking. They need to make the most of it.