The unthinkable: Shohei Ohtani shows even he has limits

Shohei Ohtani is having a Cy Young-type season on the mound, but he is struggling at the plate. (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

During Ohtani’s six seasons in Anaheim, he was the master of his fate, the captain of his soul. He dictated his schedule to the club, who ceded to Ohtani’s preferences more often than not. The undermanned Angels had no other choice; they needed every last swing, every last pitch from their singular superstar.

But things are playing out differently in DodgerTown.

Ohtani no longer appears to be at the wheel. Dodger leadership — Roberts, President of Baseball Operation Andrew Friedman, GM Brandon Gomes — are running the show. And that group has been refreshingly straightforward about their intentions regarding Ohtani’s two-way duties.

“I do feel like we've shown by sitting him a couple times already on days that he pitches that we're trying to, you know, manage the workload.” Roberts told reporters on Monday.

“It doesn’t make sense for him to go wire-to-wire [as both a] pitcher and hitter, playing every day and pitching every week. That’s hard,” Friedman explained AM 570 last weekend.

Ohtani, for his part, is going along with the plan. That’s no surprise for the agreeable 31 year old, who rarely, if ever, offers anything resembling discontent. During his weekly media availability — unlike all other players in MLB, he only speaks to the media after he pitches — Ohtani is reliably unrevealing often to a comical degree. His answers, given in English through interpreter Will Ireton, are usually full of empty jargon geared towards avoiding controversy at all costs.

“I’m always going to respect the decision, regardless of if I’m pitching or doing both.” Ohtani said, via Ireton, following his most recent start. “Talking with the training staff, talking with the team, I think it’s really important that the team makes the decision about what's good for the team.”

An endorsement, yes, but not exactly a passionate one. Ohtani hasn’t publicly confessed whether he prefers hitting or sitting when he pitches. Perhaps he genuinely doesn’t have a predilection either way, perhaps he’s being respectful and deferential to his superiors. But based upon how he opted to handle things in Anaheim, it’s reasonable to assume that Ohtani would like to hit, at least until he vocalizes otherwise.

For now, however, the Dodgers are focused on the long game. Ensuring Ohtani is at full strength for October is priority No. 1. They will, at some point, need to re-familiarize Ohtani with doing both in the same game, if that’s how Los Angeles expects to strategize things in the postseason.

That problem is months away. For now, the Dodgers can keep on keeping on, as long as Ohtani doesn’t get restless. Given the club’s threepeat-or-bust mentality, it’s a rational course of action, even if it means the game’s most unique player will be incrementally less unique.

Still, it’s unusual to think about Ohtani as restricted, in any way, shape or form. He has always been, except for the occasional torn elbow ligament, completely limitless. Time and time again, Ohtani scoffed at baseball’s physical boundaries, making our expectations of him more and more preposterous as he goes.

That’s what makes this recent, seemingly minuscule development feel notable. Whatever the real reason — age, underperformance, Dodger-Think, a combination — Ohtani is being restrained. It’s a reminder, too, that he can’t do this forever. Time always wins. As such, concessions will need to be made. In fact, they’re already being made.

Ohtani remains the most remarkable character in the sport. That he is seriously in contention for the Cy Young a season after clobbering 55 home runs is astonishing. His bat will get clicking any day now. He is still the game’s most valuable player. Nobody else in baseball is in his hemisphere of superstardom.

And yet, even the limitless have limits.