This idea was picked up when last week, Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior admitted on The Dan Patrick Show that, yes, there’s “absolutely” a scenario where Ohtani pitches in relief in the upcoming postseason. However, he later clarified that so far, the team has only analyzed the rulebook to see if Ohtani could keep batting after coming in to pitch.

As per the “Ohtani Rule”—written in 2022 and now known league-wide—if a pitcher starts a game and is also hitting, he can keep batting even after he’s done pitching. However, that does not apply the same way if the pitcher entered in relief.

So, if Ohtani enters the game as a DH and later enters the game to pitch, removing him would mean he’s out of the game completely. Then, the team loses him as their hitter.

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That being the case, the MLB isn’t about to tweak this rule for the sake of one player in the postseason, as per Foul Territory insider A.J. Pierzynski. He weighed in and gave the Dodgers a blunt reality check in the recent podcast. “It’s not going to happen. It can’t happen with the rule the way it is. If it happens during the year, you will have every fan base except the Dodgers clamoring that the league is trying to help the Dodgers win another World Series.” He said. If it appears that the league is tilting the scales in the Dodgers’ favor, then you can expect the fans to erupt absurdly.

He further added, “They’re going to have to figure this out in the regular season because you can’t go into the postseason and be like, ‘Oh, hey guys! We’re changing the rules so one guy can do this.’ No!” For what it’s worth, Ohtani himself is clear about his stance. He made it clear that he prefers to complete his buildup as a pitcher in big-league games.

And Roberts himself described the idea of Ohtani pitching in relief as “just sort of exploring options.” If it’s even under talks, it clearly tells that the Dodgers are appealed by this idea. However, they’re still unsure about their ultimatum.

Pitcher or DH? How the Dodgers Will Make the Most of Ohtani’s Two-Way Powers

A former two-way player—Kansas City Royals pitcher Michael Lorenzen—recently suggested that Ohtani could be the last full-time two-way player in this league. Since his debut, many prospects and players have given the two-way role a shot but eventually couldn’t succeed at both.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers seem to leave the door open for Shohei Ohtani to pitch in relief this October. However, it could likely happen only in a situation where he could record the final outs of a game. So that they can avoid removing his bat from the lineup. The Dodgers are relying on his pitching and hitting both.

“He [Ohtani] cares about helping his team win on both sides of the baseball.” Coach Mark Prior said. Let’s also note that Ohtani has limited experience pitching in relief. He has only done it once since coming to the MLB.

He recorded the final three outs for Samurai Japan during the 2023 World Baseball Classic after starting as a designated hitter. Either way, the Dodgers have always been cautious of his workload.

They might have a strong lineup of starting pitchers—including Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Clayton Kershaw—but they need Ohtani just as much. He is currently pitching up to five innings per start. There are no plans to exceed that limit for the rest of the regular season.