Shohei Ohtani wants to be a two-way player again next season.
What he said was expected.
How he said it was worrisome.
“I intend on doing everything,” he said in Japanese.
Is next season destined to end the way this one did for the Dodgers, with a broken-down Ohtani rendering their lineup incapable of generating the offense required to return to the World Series?
Not necessarily.
As Ohtani catalogued his frustrations from his injury-plagued season after the Dodgers were swept out of the playoffs by the Brewers on Thursday night, one particular failure seemed to bother him more than the others.
“I wasn’t able to pitch in the postseason,” he said.
This was either the best news the Dodgers could have received or an early death knell for their next season.
Depends on what Ohtani does to improve his chances of pitching next October.
Does he modify his in-season pitching schedule and accept some form of load management?
That would give him a chance, not only to pitch in games that matter most, but also to remain the difference-making hitter the Dodgers need him to be.
Or does he simply change his offseason workout regimen in hopes that he can strengthen his body to where it can withstand pitching and hitting from Opening Day to the last game of the World Series?
Considering how quickly his season was derailed and the effects those injuries had on him as a hitter, that plan would be an invitation for disaster.
Ohtani turns 33 next year.
He didn’t specify what he was thinking, other than that he would start deliberating a course of action now that the Dodgers were in their offseason.
The ambiguity that was both a source of optimism and concern was the result of how Ohtani addressed reporters.
A horde of journalists from the United States, Japan and who knows where else formed a semicircle around Ohtani, who fielded inquiries in a scattershot question-and-answer session that lasted about seven minutes.
Generally speaking, the questions he was asked were lacking in detail — or, in some cases, the details were lost as they passed through Ohtani’s interpreter. When Ohtani said something noteworthy — the statements quoted above, for example — more pointed questions on the subject couldn’t be asked because another journalist wanted to ask about something entirely different.
For example, when Ohtani acknowledged that he could undergo offseason surgery but didn’t say what body part he might have to repair, there was no follow-up question on the subject. Some bozo Japanese reporter at the front of the mob asked an unnecessarily verbose question about what he, Shohei Ohtani, saw in the Brewers that the Dodgers were lacking.
(Ohtani was known to be dealing with discomfort in his right arm and left knee when he was placed on the injured list in September. That was probably still the case in the playoffs. When manager Dave Roberts was asked what was bothering Ohtani before Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, he replied, “It’s everything. It’s the upper body. It’s the knee.”)
While Ohtani left unanswered questions about his health status, and perhaps deliberately so, he made it a point to expound on his desire to be a two-way player again.
He spoke of his disappointment of not being able to take the mound in the playoffs, as well as at the end of the regular season.
“That’s a point of dissatisfaction,” Ohtani said.
He continued, “Of course, I feel like I want to continue [playing both ways]. Because of that, I want to have a good offseason.”
Right after saying he planned on “doing everything,” Ohtani said, “I want to do my best so that I can have a better season [than this season].”
Effort alone won’t make that happen, of course, and this is where the Dodgers have to step in. Rather than continue to be his servants, they have to be his partners.
Practicality doesn’t appeal to Ohtani. Dreams do.
So sell him on a dream.
Ohtani on the mound in the World Series, perhaps in a Game 7. But unlike in 2025 when the Dodgers were playing the Blue Jays and Ohtani lasted just 2 ⅓ innings, this time he is the winning pitcher.
The Dodgers can get him there, maybe by giving him more time between starts, maybe by holding him out as a pitcher in the early stages of the season.
Ohtani doesn’t sound as if he has a firm plan in place, which means the Dodgers have an opportunity to shape his thinking. They have to take advantage of it.
