For the past several months, a growing debate has surrounded Shohei Ohtani.
Is his recent offensive slump the result of two-way fatigue?
Should the Los Angeles Dodgers reduce his pitching workload in 2026?
Would limiting his innings help preserve his long-term health?
These are reasonable questions. Modern MLB has become obsessed — often rightly so — with workload management. Pitch counts, inning caps, six-man rotations, scheduled rest days, and injury prevention strategies are now standard across baseball.
But the current conversation may be focusing on the wrong problem.
The issue may not be Ohtani’s pitching workload.
The issue may be his total workload.
Ohtani Is Playing an Unusual Number of Games — Even for a Superstar
In today’s MLB, even elite position players rarely appear in nearly every game.
Modern baseball has changed. Teams now prioritize:
- load management,
- recovery,
- injury prevention,
- travel fatigue,
- and postseason optimization.
For most star players:
- 145–150 games is considered a heavy workload,
- 150+ games is exceptional,
- and near-full-season availability is increasingly rare.
Yet Ohtani has consistently exceeded that threshold.
His recent regular-season totals:
- 2021: 158 games
- 2022: 157 games
- 2024: 159 games
- 2025: 158 games
Those numbers are remarkable even for a full-time designated hitter.
But Ohtani is not simply a DH.
He is simultaneously:
- a starting pitcher,
- a middle-of-the-order slugger,
- a baserunner,
- a global media figure,
- and the center of baseball’s largest international spotlight.
That level of continuous physical and mental demand is almost unprecedented in modern MLB history.
Which raises an important question:
Why is the conversation centered on reducing Ohtani’s pitching… rather than reducing his overall seasonal burden?
The Dodgers May Be Managing the Wrong Variable
Most current proposals focus on limiting Ohtani as a pitcher:
- fewer innings,
- fewer pitches,
- longer recovery windows,
- reduced starts.
But there may be another path.
The Dodgers could preserve Ohtani’s elite pitching value while slightly reducing his total regular-season exposure.
In practical terms, that might mean:
- holding him around 145–150 games per year,
- giving him more scheduled DH rest days,
- sitting him after long travel stretches,
- using him as a late-game pinch hitter instead of a starter in selected games,
- or resting him on certain pitching days.
Importantly, this would not require dramatically reducing his pitching intensity.
Ohtani could still throw close to 100 pitches when he takes the mound. He could still function as a legitimate frontline starter.
The difference would be cumulative fatigue.
And over a 162-game season, cumulative fatigue matters.
The Dodgers Don’t Need Ohtani to Reach October
This is the part many fans overlook.
The Dodgers were already a perennial postseason team before they signed Ohtani.
They did not acquire him because they were incapable of making the playoffs without him.
They acquired him because they wanted to maximize their chances of winning the World Series.
That distinction matters.
The Dodgers are not a franchise fighting simply to survive the regular season. They are one of MLB’s deepest and most analytically sophisticated organizations, with enormous financial resources, elite player development, and championship-level expectations every year.
Ohtani understood that when he chose Los Angeles.
He did not join the Dodgers merely to accumulate statistics or individual awards. He joined a franchise committed to winning championships.
That means the real priority is not maximizing Ohtani’s April or May production.
The real priority is having the best possible version of Ohtani in October.
And if that is the goal, then treating him more like a modern superstar — rather than asking him to maintain an almost unprecedented 158-to-159-game workload — may actually be the more rational strategy.
Reducing his regular-season appearances from 159 games to 150 is not a radical restriction.
It is roughly one fewer start per month.
In exchange, the Dodgers could potentially:
- reduce accumulated fatigue,
- improve postseason explosiveness,
- preserve his pitching strength,
- and extend the lifespan of his two-way career.
The Business Argument May Also Be Overstated
Some will argue that resting Ohtani more frequently would hurt attendance, television ratings, and overall revenue.
But the Dodgers’ “Ohtani effect” has already evolved beyond single-game ticket sales.
Since his arrival, the organization has seen massive growth in:
- Japanese sponsorships,
- international partnerships,
- merchandise sales,
- global media exposure,
- and brand expansion throughout Asia.
The Dodgers are already benefiting enormously from Ohtani’s presence.
From a business perspective, reducing his workload by eight or nine games per season is relatively minor compared to the long-term value of keeping him healthy, productive, and dominant deep into October.
Especially if those rest days are strategically managed.
A game where Ohtani is available as a late-game pinch hitter still carries anticipation. Fans still tune in. The sense of possibility remains.
Protecting Two-Way Ohtani May Require Playing Him Less
What makes this discussion important is that it is not fundamentally anti–two-way baseball.
In fact, it may be the opposite.
Many current debates frame the issue as a choice:
Either preserve Ohtani’s health
or preserve two-way Ohtani.
But that may be a false choice.
The smarter path could be preserving his two-way role by slightly reducing the relentless pace of his regular-season schedule.
Not by weakening him as a pitcher.
Not by abandoning what makes him unique.
But by recognizing that modern MLB already manages virtually every superstar’s workload — and that perhaps the most extraordinary player in the sport should not be the lone exception.
Because in the end, the Dodgers did not sign Ohtani merely to dominate the regular season.
They signed him to win championships.
And the best way to maximize championship-level Ohtani in October… may simply be to play him a little less in June.
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