Shohei Ohtani is THE man amongst men, THE unicorn amongst unicorns, THE <insert anything> amongst <insert anything>.
As a pitcher in MLB, he is one of the best. In 481.2 career innings, Ohtani has a K/9 of 11.36 while allowing a HR/9 of 0.99. The career FIP is 3.31. Oh, he averages 96.7 mph on the fastball and allows an average exit velocity of 86.4 mph.
As a hitter in MLB, he is also one of the best. In 944 games and 3,924 career plate appearances, Ohtani has hit 250 home runs, scored 633 runs, driven in 608 runs and stolen 156 bases. The ISO is a whopping .297 while the slash is .282/.372/.580. Oh, he’s walking 12.1% of the time and striking out only 25.4%. This season, the average exit velocity is 95.5 mph, the barrel rate is 21.1% and the hard hit rate is a laughable 62.3%.
When combined, he becomes the Voltron of MLB. And that beast may soon be awakened.
Ohtani has not pitched since August 2023 due to a shoulder injury. He will be making his pitching debut on Monday against the San Diego Padres.
He will be an opener, so the innings won’t be robust, and they likely won’t be for a while.
In DraftKings daily fantasy contests, the dual eligibility of Ohtani doesn’t factor in, as he either gets points as a hitter or a pitcher, depending on what position you select him as. Until he starts and goes at least six innings, selecting Ohtani as a batter is the only option.
In regular fantasy leagues, though, the cheat code is almost back.
