You know you’re doing something right when the league makes a whole rule just for you.
That’s what Major League Baseball did for Shohei Ohtani in 2022. And now, the “Shohei Ohtani Rule” will get its biggest spotlight yet in Game 4 of the World Series.
That’s because for the first time in the Fall Classic, Ohtani is taking the mound as the starting pitcher. And the rule is designed for this specific scenario.
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What is the ‘Shohei Ohtani rule’?
The Ohtani rule altered how the pitcher spot and the DH spot work in batting lineups.
Prior to 2022, when a pitcher came out of the game on the mound, he had to be removed from the batting lineup. And in games where there was a DH, the DH spot hit for the pitcher spot all game, two separate entities.
But with Ohtani, his teams want him to be able to pitch and hit, both, but they don’t want to lose his bat when he leaves the mound.
The rule makes it so they don’t have to.
This rule alteration allows a team to leave a departed pitcher in as the DH for the remainder of the game. So when Ohtani leaves the mound, he essentially morphs from a pitcher in the batting order to just a designated hitter in the batting order. The Dodgers won’t have to let their relief pitchers hit. Ohtani will hit for them.
Does Shohei Ohtani hit when he pitches?
Now that the Ohtani rule exists, Ohtani always hits when he pitches.
Early in his career with the Angels, before the rule, Ohtani didn’t always hit when he pitched. Because as soon as he came out of the game, it was a competitive disadvantage, because the Angels would have a pitcher in the lineup while the other team had a DH.
That’s not a problem any longer. Ohtani can hit the whole game regardless of how long he’s on the mound, and it’s a boon for the Dodgers.
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