Shohei Ohtani in the Outfield? - Asian Baseballers

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Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Shohei Ohtani in the Outfield?

 





There has been speculation that Shohei Ohtani may be able to pitch this season, especially in the post-season when he will be needed. In all honesty, I believe this is a terrible idea. There's a reason for any timeline, and they gave a timeline for Shohei Ohtani's recovery from Tommy John surgery not until the beginning of next season.

 

The Los Angeles Dodgers may be swayed to have him pitch this because of the amount of money they are paying Shohei Ohtani. It would then just seem that they are rushing it and catering to what the fans want rather than what is best for him.

 

Dave Roberts said, "When you have a guy for ten years, I just don't see the upside. The risk-reward doesn't make sense."



 

Knowing Shohei's competitive nature, it may be possible that he would want to pitch this season. He is doing quite well in his rehabilitation effort, as he throws at about 85% of his throwing strength. Even so, entertaining the notion of him even using his arm extensively and having him play in the outfield this season would be a tremendous mistake because playing in the outfield requires a player to throw as hard as he can for the ball to reach the bases. The amount of torque he has to convey when throwing that far has to be greater, and that would lead to more problems if he agitates his injury, undermining his recovery efforts.

 

Since it cannot be ruled out that Shohei could pitch this year, either throwing in the playoffs or at least playing in the outfield, the Dodgers must not give in because there could be a high probability of a return being too early.

 

Ten years is a long commitment for anybody. Some pairings don't last that long if you know what I mean. By far, without pitching, Shohei is having an incredible offensive season in MLB, although he has struggled lately. As of August 12th, 2024, Shohei has a batting average of .190 with 9 RBIs, 8 hits, and 4 home runs in the last 10 games of the season. This caused his batting average to drop below .300. Despite this, he leads the Dodgers in many categories. He is over-exerting himself, I think, since right now, with the way he swings the bat, he is not hitting for average but primarily for power. It results in strikeouts, flyouts, and a couple of ground balls. His struggles could end anytime, but as far as his bat getting hot again, well, that remains a question.

 



Mookie Betts, a former MVP, and instrumental to the Dodgers' early success is back, so it will take some of the pressure off Shohei. This is critical because Shohei plays his best consistently when he bats second in the lineup.

 

On August 12th, 2024, Los Angeles was rattled by a 4.4 earthquake, as reported by USA TODAY. Earthquakes between 2.5 and 5.4 don't necessarily show much damage. This recent one though was a tad shallow, which resulted in some people feeling it. 

 

Whether this could delay a couple of home games for the Dodgers or not, we don't know. Let's hope not.

 

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