Shohei Ohtani needs to be a two-way player again next season.
What he said was expected.
How he said it was worrisome.
“I intend on doing everything,” he said in Japanese.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) reacts after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the NLCS for the 2026 MLB playoffs at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Is next season destined to finish the means this one did for the Dodgers, with a broken-down Ohtani rendering their lineup incapable of producing the offense required to return to the World Series?
Not essentially.
As Ohtani catalogued his frustrations from his injury-plagued season after the Dodgers were swept out of the playoffs by the Brewers on Thursday night time, one specific failure appeared to hassle him more than the others.
“I wasn’t able to pitch in the postseason,” he said.
This was either the finest news the Dodgers could have acquired or an early loss of life knell for their next season.
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Depends on what Ohtani does to enhance his possibilities of pitching next October.
Does he modify his in-season pitching schedule and settle for some kind of load administration?
That would give him a probability, not only to pitch in video games that matter most, but also to stay the difference-making hitter the Dodgers want him to be.
Or does he merely change his offseason exercise routine in hopes that he can strengthen his physique to where it can stand up to pitching and hitting from Opening Day to the last sport of the World Series?
Considering how shortly his season was derailed and the results these accidents had on him as a hitter, that plan would be an invitation for catastrophe.
Ohtani turns 33 next yr.
He didn’t specify what he was considering, other than that he would begin deliberating a course of motion now that the Dodgers were in their offseason.
Los Angeles Dodgers beginning pitcher Shohei Ohtani throws a pitch against the Colorado Rockies during a baseball sport Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. Wally Skalij for CA Post
The ambiguity that was both a supply of optimism and concern was the end result of how Ohtani addressed reporters.
A horde of journalists from the United States, Japan and who knows where else shaped a semicircle around Ohtani, who fielded inquiries in a scattershot question-and-answer session that lasted about seven minutes.
Generally talking, the questions he was requested were missing in element — or, in some instances, the particulars were lost as they handed through Ohtani’s interpreter. When Ohtani said something noteworthy — the statements quoted above, for instance — more pointed questions on the topic couldn’t be requested because another journalist needed to ask about something fully totally different.
For instance, when Ohtani acknowledged that he could bear offseason surgical procedure but didn’t say what physique half he might have to restore, there was no follow-up query on the topic. Some bozo Japanese reporter at the entrance of the mob requested an unnecessarily verbose query about what he, Shohei Ohtani, saw in the Brewers that the Dodgers were missing.
(Ohtani was recognized to be dealing with discomfort in his proper arm and left knee when he was positioned on the injured listing in September. That was most likely still the case in the playoffs. When supervisor Dave Roberts was requested what was bothering Ohtani before Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, he replied, “It’s everything. It’s the upper body. It’s the knee.”)
While Ohtani left unanswered questions about his well being standing, and perhaps intentionally so, he made it a level to expound on his want to be a two-way player again.
He spoke of his disappointment of not being in a position to take the mound in the playoffs, as nicely as at the finish of the common season.
“That’s a point of dissatisfaction,” Ohtani said.
He continued, “Of course, I feel like I want to continue [playing both ways]. Because of that, I want to have a good offseason.”
Right after saying he deliberate on “doing everything,” Ohtani said, “I want to do my best so that I can have a better season [than this season].”
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani watches from the dugout during the ninth inning of Game 4 of baseball’s National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Gregory Bull
Effort alone won’t make that occur, of course, and this is where the Dodgers have to step in. Rather than proceed to be his servants, they have to be his companions.
Practicality doesn’t attraction to Ohtani. Dreams do.
So promote him on a dream.
Ohtani on the mound in the World Series, perhaps in a Game 7. But unlike in 2025 when the Dodgers were taking part in the Blue Jays and Ohtani lasted just 2 ⅓ innings, this time he is the profitable pitcher.
The Dodgers can get him there, perhaps by giving him more time between begins, perhaps by holding him out as a pitcher in the early phases of the season.
Ohtani doesn’t sound as if he has a agency plan in place, which means the Dodgers have an alternative to form his considering. They have to take benefit of it.
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