Shohei Ohtani has been putting together an MVP season at the plate and on the bases lately. Yesterday’s epic game saw him go 6-6 with three homers, ten runs batted in and two steals as he finished building the 50/50 club for himself.
He has done that while also rehabbing from last year’s Tommy John surgery on the side and has made enough progress that manager Dave Roberts recently left the door open to Ohtani taking the mound in the playoffs. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman pushed back on that possibility yesterday, telling Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register that Ohtani is “not really an option.”
Ohtani has recently thrown six bullpen sessions but Friedman notes that a pitcher would normally get to that point in late January while preparing for a normal season. In other words, still a couple of months away from regular season starts. Friedman goes on to point out that following the normal timeline would have Ohtani doing live bullpens in mid to late October.
Ohtani and the team are soon having a meeting about next steps, but it’s a meeting that has been planned for months and isn’t about postseason pitching. “We aren’t even thinking about that right now,” Friedman said. “Again, this is like January for him. He’s just barely a year out from Tommy John.” The meeting is more about whether to continue to live BPs in October or put his pitching on pause during the postseason, with a resumption in November.
“The whole meeting is about how we handle his rehab to have him in the best position to be ready to go in ’25 while also taking the least amount of toll on him in ’24 because he will have an important job in October as it is,” Friedman said. “Okay – if you suspend it then and do it in November, is that enough time or do you ramp him up and have him a little bit later (at the start of next season)? That’s the stuff we have to get into.”
At this point, it’s generally best not to doubt Ohtani, who has a strong tendency to silence naysayers. But he is human, despite some evidence to the contrary, and the timelines for returning to the mound this year are ambitious. It was September 19 of last year that he went under the knife, almost exactly a year ago. If often takes 14 months or longer to fully come back even if there are no setbacks, so returning in the next month would be on the fast side.
This is also the second Tommy John of Othani’s career, as he also underwent the procedure in October of 2018. He didn’t pitch at all in 2019 and then only made two brief appearances in the shortened 2020 season. Returning from the second such operation is generally more challenging than doing it the first time, which should give Ohtani and the Dodgers extra incentive to play things cautious.
The idea of Ohtani coming back may have been extra tantalizing for some fans because of the ongoing injury troubles for Dodger starters. Last year’s club won 100 games but they limped into the playoffs with an injury-ravaged rotation consisting of Bobby Miller, Lance Lynn and Clayton Kershaw, the latter of whom was clearly battling through shoulder problems. The Diamondbacks laid waste to the Dodgers and swept them out of the playoffs.
This year, the Dodgers have lost Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan and Dustin May to season-ending surgeries. Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone are both on the IL with arm problems and are unlikely to make it back in October. Tony Gonsolin and Kershaw are also on the IL but seem to have some chance of being factors in the playoffs. Gonsolin is currently rehabbing from his own 2023 Tommy John surgery while Kershaw is trying to work through a bone spur in his left big toe.
That leaves the Dodgers currently with Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Landon Knack and Walker Buehler as their rotation at this moment. Flaherty has been great this season but had some back problems with the Tigers earlier in the year, enough to reportedly scuttle a deal to the Yankees before the Dodgers swooped in. Yamamoto missed over three months due to a rotator cuff strain and isn’t fully stretched out yet. He made just two rehab appearances before being activated and has since made two major league starts of four innings each. The club is also still planning to give him more than four days of rest between each outing, as they have done all year. Knack has good results so far but just 61 big league innings under his belt. Buehler has a 5.54 ERA on the campaign.
The idea of Ohtani charging over the horizon on his steed to save the day would obviously be exciting but perhaps too much to ask for. Even a relief role would have appeal, bringing back memories of Ohtani striking out Mike Trout to close out the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Perhaps there’s some scenario where Ohtani, Friedman, Roberts and other staff members get together and the plans change as Ohtani supersedes expectations once again, but it’s notable that the club’s chief baseball decision maker is throwing cold water on the idea.
Acoss1331
It would be awesome to finally see Shohei pitch in playoff baseball even if it’s as a reliever, but I can understand the apprehension from the Dodgers. Gotta make sure he’s good for the start of the 2025 season too.
sufferforsnakes
Albert Belle was the first 50-50 guy, not Otani.
josephejones
That was 50 doubles, right? Different stat.
mlb fan
“Different stat”…In my honest opinion there’s just too many changes between eras or generations to compare statistics.
Ball changes, rule changes, analysis changes etc… And in the era of Babe Ruth, many of the best players in the world weren’t allowed to play because of their skin color.
Johnny Angel
Try different strike zones. Their are no consistent strike zones in MLB. It is absolutely brutal. In my opinion.
sufferforsnakes
Different stat, but still the first 50-50, and accomplished in 143 games, in a season that only had 144 games.
Also, he led the league in Runs, Doubles, HR, RBI, SLG, and Total Bases. And they still screwed him by giving someone from Boston the MVP.
ATinz
Ohtani has the record. Deal with it, and stop being a hater. You can try to discredit it all that you want, but he is the first player to steal 50 and hit 50 HR.
utah cornelius
SB’s today are not the same thing. Those do not equal 50 SBs from the past. Everyone involved in a SB, the pitcher, the catcher, the first/second/third basebman/SS, tHe refs, the ump, even the batter. They are all behaving differently now. Even the bases aren’t the same. SBs wouldn’t be way up if it weren’t for the changes. Moreover, the success rates wouldn’t up, either.
I’m not saying he’s not have a great season. I just think his SBs are inflated.
sufferforsnakes
Are you gonna cry or something?
sufferforsnakes
Especially with the larger bases.
AngelsFan1968
I agree about the SB’s, they’re not the same as they were.
MLB increased the size of the bases, allow runners to wear oven mitts that extend well beyond a players hand and they took away a pitchers ability to control the running game by instituting the pitch clock and allowing only 2 pick-off throws.
Mojo37
there were more total SB’s in 1987 than 2024. And there were about as many (3,421) SB’s in 1999 as in 2024 (3427 so far). There are other big years in the past for SBs. Not saying the new rules haven’t affected the game. They have. But it pays to have some perspective. And facts, rather than unfounded opinions. baseball-almanac.com/hitting/hisb3.shtml
Luis_Fazenda
@ATinz…It’s not a record…it’s a stat. Neither of those numbers approach the seasonal record for home runs nor stolen bases. They are milking this guy’s popularity any way they possibly can, for their monetary gain. Despite what you may believe, this guy did not invent the wheel. Without Commissioner **** for brains screwing with the rule book to encourage the rampant stealing of bases, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.
Mojo37
once again…unfounded opinion ignoring the facts. see above.
AngelsFan1968
Peoples opinions are just that, their opinions. However you want to look at them is your prerogative.
The game is completely different today than it was 25-35 years ago. Trying to compare baseball stats between today and 30 years ago is unfounded, in my opinion.
Mojo37
“Trying to compare baseball stats between today and 30 years ago is unfounded, in my opinion.”
Well that says everything about your opinions.
AngelsFan1968
You’re obviously an Ohtani lover, so however you want to spin it is fine by me. Have nice day.
Mojo37
no spin is needed old man. just look at the facts, next time try to sign the guy.
Rishi
Baseball and it’s stats. Incredible year! Why we look at HR/SB together like this is odd to me. Can’t we just appreciate the great year? Just like the triple crown which could give an f about steals. We focus so much on the 50/50 but this hasn’t even been his most impressive season. And we give it more attention than Judge or somebody because it’s cool. And he plays in NY! I don’t get it. I mean I think 40/70 is possibly more impressive but it doesn’t sound as good. Ohtani is the best ever tho imo.
Rishi
There may have been more steals but what was the success rate??? An era with no hit SS stealing like crazy too.
mlb fan
“Milking this guy’s popularity”…It’s called “marketing” my friend. They teach it in business school and it’s considered a staple of virtually all businesses in the world.
As for Ohtani, I’m not going to go overboard and compare him to Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron or anything, but hitting 50 Homeruns and stealing 50 bases in a Major League season is a very unique, unusual and impressive accomplisment. In any generation.
fivepoundbass
Especially with the pick off limits and the pitch clock
Joggin’George
Dude, if you see how many bases the Cardinals stole in 1985 your head would explode.
Stolen bases are only up compared to the extreme low they fell to for a bit. They are still not that high.
50 sbs is still very impressive.
Joggin’George
Stolen bases and homers are opposite sides of the offensive spectrum. Few players do both well. So yes, whether you get it or not, 50 homers/50 stolen bases is pretty exciting.
Rishi
There were some excellent percentages on that team too but the point to me is they used to steal all the time without really calculating what CS% was detrimental to the offense. There are times when it’s not smart to steal and people nowadays won’t do it usually because they know they can wait on the extra base hit in today’s game. There are times today where people are too weary of getting caught tho in situations that call for steals. There are players who will steal like crazy and benefit from these rules but most players still rarely try. It doesn’t mean it was easier to steal bases back then. They just tried more.
Joggin’George
Is the percentage of successful stolen bases up much from the 80’s?
Rishi
2023 was the best success rate of all time as far as I know (not sure about 2024). I don’t have the stats for the actual success rates of the 80s but it’s well known that many of the big base-stealer of the past had poor success rates. One of the reasons stolen bases went away was because it was considered to be detrimental unless the rates were really high. This is why generally only really fast players stole bases in more recent times. It was considered a better bet to just wait on the big hits. Part of this was because offense was up too compared to the past. So it was a good bet the big hits would come.
Joggin’George
It’s an interesting subject. I didn’t realize stolen base success percentage was up.
Rishi
Look at Pete Rose (possibly the worst ever considering the amount of attempts 194 SB 149 CS. If he did that today they would tell him he had to stop.
Joggin’George
Oh, no doubt there were some guys with high stolen base totals who actually HURT their team because they got caught so much back in the day.
baseballfreak25
Now wait a minute! Everyone says that the records from 25-30 years ago shouldn’t be counted because of all the steroids, correct? Well all these records are being shattered now so are they juicing again? Inquiring minds are wondering.
Joggin’George
They’re not breaking home run records. Stolen bases are completely different.
Very Barry
Albert Belle would have been a 70-50 guy if he was fed the same baseballs that “go out of the park easily” that Aaron Judge and Ohtani are being thrown.
Belle got his numbers during an era when MLB had not yet purchased Rawlings and started changing the baseball to have some that go out of the park easily, and some that don’t.
Patriot12992
Yea but they were huffing down more roids back then too evens out
Johnny Angel
If belle was facing the mediocre pitching and brutally inconsistent strike zones in today’s MLB I can say with all certainty 85-65 .
Johnny Angel
With or without roids
Mojo37
what size tin foil hat do you wear Barry?
BlueSkies_LA
Tinfoil hats are fully adjustable. One size fits all.
Rishi
Im Acuna’s season every homer he hit practically until the last month was 400+ feet. Many 440+. Then when he needed it most he started hitting a bunch of wall scrapers. I’m not saying the balls were juiced but I’m not saying they weren’t either. He seemed unlikely to get to 40 homers but he got there with that last push.
Rishi
The bases were also juiced for Acuna.
Joggin’George
You don’t think Belle used steroids?
C’mon
Ham Fighter
Bulls*it albert belle played in an era when the average fastball was 88mph. Let’s see Joey try to hit 100mph fastballs and 95mph sliders off pitchers today.
Rishi
Well in fairness pitchers generally have terrible command today. There are a lot more mistake pitches to hit generally. The fastball velo is not a big deal to me. But yeah, the off speed pitches at 95 are insane. It is arguably easier to hit out a blazing pitch that is mislocated than it is to hit out any decently located 88mph fastball. And it isn’t just talk that pitchers have no command today generally. Look at the hbp numbers.
cards99
lmao that’s a joke right?
DarrenDreifortsContract
During the steroid era lol.
toptimrubies
Imagine how many he could have hit with a corked bat.
Rishi
50 doubles and 50 homers is just as impressive to me. Most guys hitting homers at that rate have a relatively small amount of doubles and vice versa. As for Ohtani, the most impressive thing with the steals is the 4 CS. That’s incredible. That and the fact that he can do anything. But it is a good point that nobody thinks about Belle going 50/50 there. People just decided HR/SB was the big thing.
Luke Strong
Why would he ever pitch again? He’s clearly at his best and able to stay healthy as a hitter, and pitching is almost surely going to get him hurt again.
Very Barry
Can you really be an “all-time” great “position” player and not actually play defense??? Babe Ruth didn’t get the luxury of “only” having to bat. We keep lowering the bar to increase the profiles of these guys. Isn’t it enough to have already compromised any integrity in the game by dictating outcomes through balls that go out of the park easily, and balls that don’t. Tommy Pham’s comments about the “balls they were hitting seemed dead” was met with deaf ears. You can dictate outcomes by throwing the balls that go out easily to the team you want to win, and making the team you want to lose hit the balls that don’t go out easily.
scarfish
Quality comment
ohyeadam
Barry, if he was done pitching he wouldn’t be a DH anymore. He’s only DHing due to the Tommy John and the pitching. He would be in RF or 1B, oddly both those spot are already covered by future HoFers on his team so maybe LF, if he decided to stop pitching
Luke Strong
10 people upvoted your ridiculous conspiracy theory about the league using different balls for different teams and the league deciding who wins and loses… did you guys not read the entirety of his comment?
Zonedeads
Babe Ruth had the luxury of not having to face people of color who are more athletic.
Ham Fighter
And hitting off pitchers with 80mph fastballs
Mojo37
I always try to find out what Tommy Pham thinks before I form an opinion on anything.
dan-9
Because he wants to. Because doing both matters to him. Because he is Shohei Ohtani.
BlueSkies_LA
Thank you, at least somebody gets it. Too much analysis is still too much analysis.
Rishi
The thing is tho for all the injuries he still can hit regardless so I see no point to not try. But obviously if he blows the elbow earlier in the season he’s not gonna be able to hit probably. It’s a historic thing. It is good for not only the game but the idea of human potential. Give the people what they want.lol. And he wants to do it. You don’t sign him and then tell him he’s not pitching. Surely there’s an agreement.
Heywally
Sometimes you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
And sometimes, you shouldn’t try. This is one of those times.
Heywally
And I’m talking about the rest of his career. if you’re just trying to win games, why risk the best offensive player in baseball’s health/stamina by having him pitch too?
utah cornelius
The crazier part is the base stealing. Why is a guy who earns like $430K per game risking injury stealing a base? Heck, one broken finger, hand, wrist, ankle, foot, leg, etc. and the guy’s is out for weeks. You’re talking near $3M PER WEEK. Why is he doing it? Just because he wants to?
Totally irrational.
And, with that huge investment, the Dodgers are letting him? Also, irrational.
Niekro floater
Like alot of players who are young n 1st come-up to mlb, he’s fast n running when it’s there. I agree, just like those players before em he’ll stop running except in dire need cause it is dangerous. Anything, even jammed finger would probably have ill effect on his swing. Pitching em runs risk of big time injury too n losing that bat in line-up. God forbid he’s tears that ulnar nerve again.
BlueSkies_LA
Sure let’s make baseball more rational. That’ll improve the game.
This one belongs to the Reds
It is amazing how many of these “reports” turn out to be total BS.
Chalk it up to Ricky Bobby reporting.
ohyeadam
Anyone who believed he would throw this playoffs has also helped out Nigerian princes via email
Brew88
I hope my money wire saved her.
BlueSkies_LA
Nigerian Princesses all around the world thank you.
Rsox
Sounds like they threw it out there and when the feedback came back as a resounding “are they nuts?!” They reversed course. No point gambling with his arm for a few innings in the playoffs
mlb fan
“Are they nuts”…I think it was just pre-playoffs subterfuge, designed to get into potential opponent’s heads that “Ohtani might come running out of the bullpen” at any moment. Surely, A. Friedman and D. Roberts speak frequently and both knew the real situation.
Jean Matrac
The thing that’s nuts is the idea that baseball execs would make player decisions based on some sort of media, or fan reaction. Like letting focus groups being a way to run a baseball team.
BlueSkies_LA
You know, this is getting kind of weird. Roberts replied to a reporter’s question about Ohtani pitching by saying it was a non-zero chance. Meaning, the chance was close to zero. That’s the sum total of what was thrown out there. If you pay attention to what was actually said, instead of the way it was spun here and elsewhere, you’ll know that no course was reversed, they’ve just said the exact same thing in two difference ways.
Jean Matrac
BlueSkies, I agree. Since Roberts wasn’t absolutely definitive, people take what he said as “so he’s saying there’s a chance”, without really understanding what was being said.
BlueSkies_LA
Exactly. You have a chance of winning the lotto, but I wouldn’t make any vacation plans around it. Even this article spun the story as Friedman “pushing back” on what Roberts said. Huh? They said the same thing.
What ever became of critical thinking?
Samuel
BlueSkies_LA;
Yes, this seems to have been happening at an increasing level in America over the past 8-10 years for everything that the mainstream media “reports”. They’ll spin anything to get some clicks or attack anyone they dislike (e.g. that doesn’t suck up to them).
Then again, real issues that affect people are dismissed as being untrue. I had a bright 46 year-old medical person tell me the other day that he doesn’t know how the majority of people in their 20’s are going to have a life; a week after my chiropractor told me that the US has the worst medical care in the world.
cards99
For the love of all that is good and holy, let Ohtani pitch in the postseason
vtadave
Friedman would never lie to the media I’m sure.
Jerry Hairston Jr's Toupee
I doubt Ohtani’s command is all that great right now anyway. Just like having another Buehler out there….
DarrenDreifortsContract
With the offensive season Ohtani is having and past injuries. He should strictly be a hitter from here on out.
bloomquist4hof
They will pitch him until they can’t. As great as his last couple seasons have been he is that much more valuable as a pitcher. I could see a transition to relief at some point and eventually to a full time DH if he gets hurt again or becomes ineffective but they will likely start him until it doesn’t make sense. At least it seems that way to me.
good vibes only
100%. He’ll pitch until he’s no longer an impact arm. There is no downside to pitching him if he’s still elite when he comes back. Even if he gets injured again, the recovery time for him to hit again is short.
RonDarlingShouldntBeInTheHallOfFame
If Ohtani wants to pitch in the post season, no way the Dodgers stop him. I’m betting he pitches in relief unless the Dodgers bow out early again..
gbs42
There’s an easy way for the Dodgers to stop him from pitching in the postseason: don’t let him. Is it going to walk out to the mound with his glove and demand the ball?
RonDarlingShouldntBeInTheHallOfFame
No, but as a star who has earned a say, it’d be a BIG risk for them to shoot him down on it if it’s something he wants to do.
utah cornelius
Heck, they let the guy steal bases with $430K per game per injury on the line, why not let him take up mountain climbing, hang gliding, and parkour, too? I mean, if he wants to do it, that should be enough.
Joggin’George
Nah, it’s their job to say, no, that’s absurd. You wanna pitch next year, ok, but we’re not going to shake things up and risk losing you just because you have a sudden craving to pitch now. That’s not the plan we’re working with.
gbs42
Ron, how is it a BIG risk if they tell him no? It’s a BIGGER risk to let him pitch this year if he’s not fully recovered, and he’s signed for nine more years, so it’s not like he’s going to leave or sit out in protest.
Trolling stops when Internet Anonymity stops.
The worst commenters on MLBTR are: Inutero, DodgersBro, BirdieMan, njbirdsfan, JoeBrady, Blue Baron, Johnny Utah, Fever Pitch Guy, Rocker49, FletcherFan69, DarrenDreifort’sContract, JayRyder, 27champyankees (AKA TonyGwynnSD19 and 27ringsbtch in SF Giants articles.), Halos11, BlueSkies_LA, Dogbone, DarkSide830, LFGMets, Rsox, NYCRiddler, Samuel, Travis’ Wood, whyhayzee, johnsilver, Steinbrenner2728, Mickey Solis, tangerinepony, Dumpster Divin’ Theo, Yanks22, its_happening, Zippy the Pinhead, waldfee, Edp007, Blackpink in the area, sufferforsnakes (used to go by “sufferfortribe”) coupofthecentury, Old York, Mitchell Page, Rocker49, Rocker49, and Rocker49.
NickTheDev
How is this helpful?
BlueSkies_LA
Trolling is never intended to be helpful.
gbs42
Wow, I imagine it took a while to compile that list. Glad to see I’m not on it.
Is Rocker49 three times as bad as everyone else, earning him three spots on the list?
Jean Matrac
gbs42, Actually, Rocker49 appears 4 times (once fairly early, as well as those last 3 spots). Like you, not sure what that means.
Jean Matrac
I’m disappointed I didn’t make the list.
Johnny Angel
I agree
straightuphonestguy
How can I get on the next list?
BlueSkies_LA
Sorry, it’s a very exclusive club. Someone has to die to open up a membership.
Mojo37
can we nominate those to die?
BlueSkies_LA
The floor is open.
Joggin’George
Maybe one day we’ll open the books…
Smelly_Cobb
must be the founder of the Danish site TrollTrace.com
Exposing Trolls all over the world, especially in Colo-Reedo
TurnOffTheTV
Blue Baron’s husband approves of this message.
Samuel
Trolling stops when Internet Anonymity stops;
I’M HONORED TO BE ON YOUR LIST !!!!
It’s like being called “Ugly” by a frog.
Thanks for taking the time out from your busy day full of accomplishments.
empirejim
Friedman talking about Ohtani as a starter, many of us are thinking of him as a later inning reliever. Dont need to be able to go 50 pitches, just one inning max. If he’s regularly throwing BP’s at high intensity there’s no reason not to make use of his talent other than an abundance of caution. He could truly be a huge difference maker and key to going all the way.
Jean Matrac
When you have the best player in baseball, with significant salary committed to him for another 9 seasons, wouldn’t any team proceed with an abundance of caution?
YankeesBleacherCreature
It’s also a possibility that he could hurt himself and be unable to hit. While it’ll be fun to see, it’s not the smartest to do it.
empirejim
It’s a possibility he hurts himself hitting It;s a possibility he hurts himself signing autographs. You cant eliminate injuries. But you can make the most of your opportunities.
Jean Matrac
“You cant (sic) eliminate injuries.”
No but you can take steps to mitigate the chances of injury. And which scenario carries the biggest risk of injury? Is it signing autographs, hitting, or pitching to ML hitters barely 12 months after TJS?
AngelsFan1968
Remember, MLB made special rules for him. When a team had their pitcher hit, they lost the DH for the entire game. Not any more in today’s game.
When he first started pitching for the Angels and he needed to be pulled from the game, and was due up the next inning, they would put him in a corner outfield and hope nothing was hit to him. And he wouldn’t return for multiple innings in the outfield.
Joggin’George
No point. When you have the best player in baseball, you don’t mess with that. You just let him keep doing what he’s doing.
BlueSkies_LA
So what’s the difference between a non-zero chance and not really an option? It’s a non-zero difference. So this is still a non-zero story.
Brew88
There’s a non zero chance that Muncy pitches in playoffs, too
Roob3ucla
What does this say about Dave Roberts. His boss came out and shut down Robert’s unfounded claims. It’s always a good sign when the front office and manager have competing messaging lol
YankeesBleacherCreature
Nothing. It’s show(hei) biz. Let the media speculate and make noise.
norcalblue
It’s an important point you are making Roob. It has become more and more common for Doc to irresponsibly seek a headline, feeding a thirsty media. I suspect to ensure favorable treatment from beat reporters; but, at the expense of relationships with his players. In Clayton’s book, trust issues between Doc, Clayton and other players are a recurring theme.
Friedman and the FO slapped Doc pretty hard over his idiotic comments last winter following the organization’s initial meeting with Ohtani. AF was diplomatic in setting the record straight on this incident.
BPax
I wonder how many baseball fans bought tickets to last night’s game just to see Ohtani and see if he’s “really that good.?” Yes, he is.
BlueSkies_LA
It was a very lightly attended game, as are most in Miami. It also started at a usual time in late afternoon. Official attendance: 15,548, a goodly number of whom had left the park by the time Ohtani hit #3. Had that game been played in LA, more than three times as many people would have witnessed it.
Mojo37
Thankful I get to watch Shohei hit and run nightly. It’s more than enough. For now.
BlueSkies_LA
Another greedy and spoiled Dodgers fan! 😉
utah cornelius
So, they stopped pitching to Judge a couple of months ago. 20 IBBs and nothing but junk to hit.
Why on earth are they still pitching to Ohtain! I’ve been wondering about this since his bat woke up a bit ago. And last night? Not one IBB? The guy has only 10 IBB’s this year.
It would be interesting to see what Ohtani would be doing with Verguo behind him and IBB’s nothing but nibbles.
Not saying he’s not a great player, just saying there is a big difference to the way he gets thrown.
Mojo37
utah: walk Ohtani and you have a runner in scoring position on the next pitch or two. and Judge doesn’t have Betts, Freeman, Teoscar, Smith & Muncy hitting behind him. Yes there IS a big difference.
YankeesBleacherCreature
The Yankees didn’t have anyone to protect Judge behind him. Much easier to pitch to Stanton, Torres, Verdugo, and Volpe.
Mojo37
Torres hits ahead of Judge, doesn’t he? Stanton ok. He’s a banger. Verdugo & Volpe, not so much. Chisolm helps. Still not quite the LAD lineup. Looking forward to settling it in October.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Not prior to the ASG. He’s been at leadoff since and doing OK there. LAD vs NYY would be fun!
CarolinaCubsandKush
It’s gonna be nuts when Ohtani comes back out of the pen late in the playoffs to close out a big series when the Dodgers really needs him.
outinleftfield
Did anyone really think the Dodgers would take the risk of bringing Ohtani back as a pitcher before 2025?
aragon
Criminal!
geotheo
As a general rule when a pitcher is returning from Tommy John surgery they do a few minor league rehab assignments. Doesn’t work for Ohtani since he isn’t on the IL. The quirks of being a two way player. If he was two separate people the hitter would be on the active roster and the pitcher on the IL making rehab assignments. Surprised the Dodgers didn’t persuade Manfred to allow Ohtani to make rehab starts when the Dodgers were off. Bottom line is he isn’t pitching this year. He’s there for his bat. Next spring hopefully he will be back to full strength pitching
olmtiant
And why would it be when YOU have Brasier!!
baseballpurist
I wish we could see Ricky Henderson in his prime today. Given the new rules and the fact that catchers have been groomed to frame pitches and not throw out base runners, he would be the first member of the 30/300 club.
Joggin’George
Nah. Then why is no one stealing 100 today?
There were advantages then, there are advantages now. Also, less reliance on old school sabermetrics means more focus on steals.
BlueSkies_LA
Whaaat? Analytics killed the running game. It also wiped out the slap hitter types who were once employable if they could get on base and run. MLB felt it needed to make the recent changes in the rules because the running game became so ridiculously dead, due entirely to analytics.
And yet most baseball broadcasters still haven’t gotten the word that the running game is back. They hardly ever mention baserunners and because of that the camera hardly ever picks them up except by accident. I’m hoping Ohtani’s feat will wake the broadcasters up to the running game. He’s picking so many pockets for a reason. Time to start talking about how he’s doing it.
Joggin’George
Right, that’s my point. Analytics de-emphasized stealing to the extreme. It’s back now partly because of rule changes, mostly because of a shift in thinking.
Sabermetrics is an ever changing approach.
YankeesBleacherCreature
The analytic numbers on stealing bases hasn’t change. MLB want more speedy players with a successful rate of stolen bases. Those who can’t achieve that still won’t run.
Joggin’George
The numbers haven’t changed, the situation and understanding have.
BlueSkies_LA
The analytics have changed in the sense that the new rules deliberately made base stealing attempts more statistically worthwhile. But this will never bring back the players who made their livings with speed, because most of them lack the launch angles and exit velocities prized today. One of the last I can remember who pulled that off is Juan Pierre. He could never make it in today’s game.