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Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani is putting on quite the performance in 2025.
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Ohtani the hitter is hitting .284 with 42 home runs, 78 runs batted in, and an OPS of 1.013 this season. He also has 17 stolen bases.
Ohtani the pitcher is sporting a 2.37 ERA with 25 strikeouts to just five walks across 19 innings of work. He is arguably pitching the best out of all Dodgers starters, though his sample size is small.
While Ohtani’s performance in his second year as a Dodger has been nothing short of spectacular, it remains to be seen how long the superstar can remain both a hitter and pitcher.
“It’s always hard to determine the longevity of any career,” Ohtani said last month. “So my goal is just to be able to play two-way as long as possible, and just being able to play as long as possible.”
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman provided more context behind the superstar’s vision, revealing Ohtani hopes to remain a two-way star for the remaining eight years of his contract with the Dodgers.
Read more: Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani Wants to Pitch for Next 8 Years of Contract, Says Andrew Friedman
“But we want to make sure and do it in his first year in a very methodical way,” Friedman said. “He has designs of pitching for eight years after this and we want to make this as possible as we can.”
The Dodgers have been cautious with Ohtani’s return to the mound this season, but he’s shown elite stuff with each start.
“I think it’s more about evaluating after every outing,” Friedman said. “We’re doing this in a very methodical way and we’ll continue to build. Where that stops, we’re not sure yet. We’ll continue to monitor how he’s holding his stuff, how his body is responding, all of those different insights we can get after each outing. But we will continue to build up. To where and what does that mean, we’re not sure yet.
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Photo Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
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