After waiting a full season, the Los Angeles Dodgers will finally be able to witness Shohei Ohtani’s ability as a two-way player in 2025. It is the main reason they felt comfortable giving him the largest contract in sports history at the time, even if Ohtani demonstrated his worth without pitching last season.
For his career, Ohtani has a 3.01 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 418.2 innings. His ability to produce at a high level in the batter’s box as well as on the mound is the reason he has three career MVP Awards — two in the American League and one in the National League.
Anticipation to see Ohtani back in action is not limited to just the front office or Dodgers fanbase, but his teammates as well. During a recent appearance on the “Chris Rose Rotation,” Tyler Glasnow expressed his excitement to see all work Ohtani completes behind the scenes in order to be the caliber of two-way player he is:
“Just to watch on a daily basis, to watch Shohei hit and also come back and pitch, to see his whole routine and how you even tackle that throughout the course of a season, that’s going to be the most interesting thing. Like, the training aspect of it and what you do throughout the week. He’s got to figure it out, but it’s going to be interesting for me to see firsthand.”
As Ohtani eyes a return to the mound, he has expressed missing the feeling that comes with the territory of being a starting pitcher.
Ohtani’s best season as a pitcher was in 2022 where he had a 2.33 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and in 166 innings. Despite also batting .273/.356/.519 with 30 doubles, 34 home runs and 95 RBI, he did not win a third AL MVP award because of Aaron Judge’s historic season.
Shohei Ohtani Voted 2024 Sporting News Male Athlete Of The Year
After being named MLB Player of the Year by Sporting News in October, Ohtani was also chosen as their pick for Male Athlete of the Year.
It was the second publication to give Ohtani such an award, as he was also named the Male Athlete of the Year for a third time from The Associated Press.
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