Shohei Ohtani’s latest trip to the injured list hasn’t changed the bigger picture: the Dodgers still may not be able to talk him out of chasing the two-way life.
Ohtani landed on the injured list late this season with neck, knee and biceps injuries after battling through issues for much of the year. His two-way work had already been cut short earlier in the season, when he stepped off the mound in early July. But that hasn’t made it clear he’s ready to walk away from the idea of being both a hitter and a pitcher.
The Athletic’s Andy McCullough doesn’t see Ohtani surrendering that dream anytime soon. As McCullough wrote, "He may not want to give up the full-season two-way dream so easily," McCullough writes.
"He may still want to prove that he can do in his 30s what he did in his 20s. He may still want to say, 'Well, actually, I can.'
And the Dodgers may not want to scuffle with the face of the franchise. It will be a delicate dance."
That’s the heart of it for Los Angeles. The Dodgers might prefer a version of Ohtani that limits the wear and tear on his body while still giving them elite production as an everyday designated hitter. But with Ohtani carrying the weight of being the face of the franchise and, as the piece notes, the face of professional baseball right now, the club may not have much leverage if he wants to keep pitching.
This season already showed how complicated that can get. Ohtani downplayed his injury problems, and that helped delay his move to the injured list longer than it probably should have been. Even so, the expectation remains that he’ll keep pushing toward two-way upside next season, despite the fact that his injuries forced him into a one-way role in the second half of the 2026 season.
The odds of him staying healthy for a full season as a two-way player only get tougher as he moves deeper into his 30s. Still, Ohtani has built a career on proving people wrong. The challenge is bigger now, but the dream doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.
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