Contrary to Popular Opinion: Ohtani is the Only Real Two-Way Player in Sports

Illustration by Peter Townsend

In 2018, Shohei Ohtani came to the US to play baseball and not only completely mesmerized the MLB world, but also the entire sports world. Playing both pitcher and hitting in the lineup was unheard of, unprecedented, and virtually unthinkable.

The result was even more unthinkable. He is a five-time All-Star (2021-2025), three-time MVP (2021, 2023, 2024), four-time All-MLB first team (2021-2024), two-time All-MLB second team (2021, 2022), three-time Silver Slugger (2021, 2023, 2024), and two-time home run leader (2023, 2024).

He has won all these awards except for MVP because he is a fantastic hitter. He has won MVP because he is a fantastic hitter and a great pitcher (except for 2024 when he didn't pitch). Playing both ways gives Ohtani an automatic accelerator whenever he is evaluated as a player. Especially whenever he is evaluated against other players.

Sure, Aaron Judge is a great hitter. Better than Ohtani. But, what's his ERA? Conversation ended.

Anatomy of an MLB Two-way Player

In little league, and sometimes high school, and very rarely in college, players play both ways. Growing up, the best player on the team batted third, played shortstop, and was the best pitcher. Sooner than later, like all things in life, you have to specialize, typically in high school. At some point, there isn't enough time in the day, the week, or the offseason to focus/practice/gain incremental improvements on both hitting and pitching.

Traditionally, hitting pitchers in the MLB were an automatic out. The American League instituted designated hitters a long time ago and the National League more recently. The game is much better off for it. Max Fried told FanGraphs in 2024, "Having that perspective of standing in the box and knowing what a pitcher is doing to you, in the same game that you’re pitching, gives you that perspective. Sometimes you’re out there on the mound throwing the perfect pitch and it’s getting hit, so yeah, the perspective on how hard it is to actually hit."

Alas, most didn't agree with Fried, and pitchers don't hit any more. Except for Ohtani. In his first outing this year, Ohtani had a rough outing, throwing almost 40 pitches in the first inning. He then had to turn around and bat leadoff immediately. And he is expected to steal bases if he gets aboard. And after the Dodgers hit, he gets right back on the mound. Meanwhile, everybody else is resting on the bench while the Dodgers are on offense. Every other starting pitcher is completely resting for the next five days after an outing, Ohtani bats leadoff the next day.

So, what does it take to be a two-way player in the MLB:

• In 2021, Ohtani hit .257 with 46 home runs, 100 RBI's, 26 stolen bases, and a .965 OPS combined with 3.18 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 156 strikeouts. Good for an MVP award.

• In 2022, Ohtani hit .273 with 34 home runs, 95 RBI's, with an .875 OPS combined with 2.33 ERA, 1.012 WHIP, and 219 strikeouts. He came in second place in MVP and fourth place in Cy Young.

• In 2023, Ohtani hit .304, 44 home runs, 95 RBI's with a 1.066 OPS (he led the National League in home runs and MLB in OBP, slugging, and OPS) combined with 3.14 ERA, a 1.061 WHIP and 167 strikeouts. Good for an MVP award.

• In 2024, Ohtani, without pitching, hit .310, 54 home runs, 130 RBI's with a 1.036 OPS and 59 stolen bases (he led the National League in runs, home runs, RBI's, OBP, slugging, and OPS and was the first 50/50 player of all-time). Good for an MVP award.

Ohtani is routinely a top three hitter in MLB and, depending on metric, a top 10 to 15 pitcher. Every year he plays those positions. he is elite at both positions.

Two-Way Tsunami

Based on Ohtani's success, you would expect to see many more players and coaches wanting to test the waters with hitting pitchers. Since Ohtani came into the league in 2018, there have been exactly zero more players to try to pitch and hit. The pipeline is not very big coming in from college and typically an MLB team is going to force a player into a certain direction once they start in the farm system.

The decision seems to be simple for most managers. You have to excel at both positions if you are going to play two ways. Mediocrity in one half of your game is not going to be tolerated. If you can't achieve high end success as both a pitcher and a hitter, you are going to play one position. Managers clearly would rather have high end success on one end of the spectrum or another but not have the patience for mediocrity on both ends. The feeling seems to be that if you are just an average pitcher and hitter, you are a novelty, a carnival trick (think Deion Sanders as a wide receiver). Why not be an All-Star as a pitcher or a position player and focus?

Look at Paul Skenes. At Air Force, he played catcher and pitcher. The minute he gets to LSU, he is a full-time pitcher. The Pittsburgh Pirates agree. Kansas City Royals OF Jac Caglianone was a two-way player throughout college, pitching velocity in the high nineties, starting 16 games (150 career college innings), and setting a majority University of Florida hitting records including home runs and slugging. Like Skenes, he was promoted to MLB in less than year, but he will strictly play the outfield.

In fact, looking at Ohtani's 2024 hitting numbers in a non-pitching year, you have to wonder if Ohtani is still a valid two-way player. Comparing 2023 to 2024, the OPS numbers were very similar, but you received 35 more RBI's, 10 more home runs, 32 more runs, and 39 more stolen bases in 2024. Given the Dodgers starting rotation that includes Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, do you need Ohtani?

And when Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin, and Blake Snell are healthy, would you rather have Ohtani full steam as a hitter.

Other Sports

How unique is Ohtani as a two-player if we compare to other sports? Naturally, in basketball, everyone is a two-way player. But are they?

Jokingly (or maybe not so jokingly), not every player seems to put the same amount of effort on defense as Alex Caruso every time down the court. To put it in perspective, the main reason that Lebron James will never be considered the best player ever, depsite being the all-time scoring leader, is because of his defense. Yes, he made the First Team All Defense five years in a row, but he hasn't been awarded All Defense since 2013 and never received Defensive Player of the Year.

Meanwhile, Micheal Jordan was First Team All Defense nine times and Defensive Player of the Year once. He was All Defense the last year before his second retirement. Even if we consider his time with the Wizards, he was All Defense within four years of retirement. Everybody plays defense, but not everybody is an elite defender like Jordan. And Ohtani.

In football, forgetting special teams, nobody plays on offense and defense. Nothing to compare to. Which is why Travis Hunter will be a very interesting case study this year. Can he be Ja'Marr Chase and Jalen Ramsey? Kansas City TE Travis Kelce doesn't seem to think so. Via Sports Illustrated, he said, "I don't know, because teams are going to be going after him. They're gonna try and make his day miserable. If he plays corner, they're gonna run deep balls at him all day. They're gonna run the wide receivers, just take off on him all day, just to try to get him tired. Why wouldn't you just attack him that way?"

It will be interesting to see if NFL coaches will accept mediocrity from Hunter. If he is an elite wide receiver, it is hard to believe you would take those yards and points off the board. Maybe he comes in at corner on third down or fourth down situations to bolster the secondary, but he primarily plays receiver.

We'll know in six months.

Conclusion

Ohtani is ridiculously unique. Within baseball, he is literally one of a kind. Across sports, it's difficult to compare what he has accomplished because either there is no one else doing it (NFL) or very few players excel at both the offensive and defensive part of the game (NBA).

After two Tommy John surgeries, it would not be ridiculous to ask if the pitching can continue at a high level. Ohtani has thrown his fastest ball of his career this year at 101.7. Could he switch to a closer at that velocity? Or a high leverage reliever? There would be no shame in ditching the starting role. But would he have time to warm up if he also needs to be getting ready to hit or observing a new pitcher from the opposing team?

However, the Dodgers are counting on him participating as a pitcher. As a hitter, he deserves a $350 to $400 million salary like Juan Soto. If he is pitching at a high level, he deserves the $700 million. If he isn't pitching, I would say he is overpaid.

But it isn't my checkbook.