Shohei Ohtani should be moved to the bullpen!

It's time to acknowledge reality. Shohei Ohtani is no longer 23 years old. In the modern era, where pitchers thrive with fastballs over 100 mph, it is slowly becoming clear that Shohei Ohtani could exhaust himself. It's just too much stress on his body or anyone else's body, for instance. He is expected to pitch 5 to 6 innings every 5–6 days or so, and it should be noted that he's not a superhero.

The human body can only sustain such stress on the body for so long. Different muscles are mostly used on a hitter and pitcher. The two are separate disciplines. Not only is he exhausting his muscles in various areas, but he could also become susceptible to different types of injuries as he continues to age. This refers to the ages of 32, 33, 34, and so on. If they insist on having him pitch that many innings, he is simply going to exhaust himself, and it could result in an earlier than expected retirement. Somehow, there’s a point where Roberts needs to save Shohei from himself because if this keeps up, he could possibly need a third Tommy John surgery. If the pattern continues, it would likely mark the end of his pitching career. 

Moving Shohei to a reliever role could be the sensible thing to do at this point. The Dodgers are not losing anything by doing this because he would still maintain his two-way status, all the while releasing the kind of workload that could be detrimental to his health. This approach is more practical because it allows Roberts to monitor Ohtani's health on a day-to-day basis as a reliever.

With Ohtani’s success as a two-way player, there have been strides to identify another player to be his successor. There have been other two-way players in the past, especially in the early days of MLB, but in the modern era, no one found this kind of success at a historic level, all the while setting new records.

There are new young players scouted to be possible successors, most notably Bryce Eldridge, who, at 18, already commands a 96 mph fastball. Could he be the next Shohei Ohtani? Maybe, but most likely not. Even with the Ohtani rule, designed to usher in a new wave of two-way players across the league, he remains the only one currently in MLB. There have been others selected as a two-way player, like Nolan McLean of the Mets' triple-A system. He was a two-way player for two years, but it is clear he is better as a pitcher than a hitter. Solely transitioning to a pitcher catapulted him to number 3 as the Mets’ prospect.

The prospect of another Shohei Ohtani is bleak. There are those who will try, but for one player to find success as a pitcher and hitter the way he did will probably never be achieved in this century ever again.