It’s been a while since Shohei Ohtani was last on an MLB mound. Before his one-inning appearance for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Diego Padres last night, Ohtani hadn’t pitched in an MLB game since August 23, 2023. To put that into perspective, Ohtani was still on the Angels and hadn’t yet signed that ridiculous contract with the Dodgers the last time he had pitched. Overall, it was a shaky first appearance, with Ohtani giving up a run on two hits. The outing also saw him throw close to 28 pitches in just one inning. Granted, it’s just his first appearance, and there were positives (namely him hitting 100 MPH on the gun). However, it’s brought up a question amongst some baseball pundits — can Shohei transition into a closer role whilst still being a designated hitter?
The answer is a bit complicated.
Can A Designated Hitter Be Used As A Relief Pitcher?
So, before getting into the weeds about why Ohtani can or cannot be used as a relief pitcher, let’s first address the elephant in the room: Can a designated hitter be used as a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball?
The answer is technically yes, though it comes at a cost. Here’s what the official MLB rulebook says:
If a player serving as the DH is later used on defense, he continues to bat in his same lineup spot. But for the rest of the game, his team cannot use a DH to bat in place of the pitcher. A team is also barred from using a DH for the rest of the game if the pitcher moves from the mound to another defensive position, a player pinch-hits for any other player and then becomes the pitcher, or the current pitcher pinch-hits or pinch-runs for the DH.
The DH rule was amended in 2022 to account for designated hitters who also elected to pitch as well as hit — in short, it was amended because not allowing Ohtani to do both would be foolish. However, outside of being a starting pitcher, designated hitters must remain as designated hitters for the duration of the game. If at any point a DH is placed in the field, be it in the field or on the mound, that team loses its DH and must then have the pitcher bat from that point moving forward.
Why Ohtani Being Used As A Closer Is A Bad Idea
So, now that you know the consequences of putting a DH on the mound late in a game, you can kind of figure out why it wouldn’t be wise to allow Ohtani to be a closer or pitch in relief. But, in case you missed the memo, let’s describe why it wouldn’t be wise of the Dodgers to do so.
Right now, Shohei Ohtani is one of the best hitters in baseball, not named Aaron Judge. Thus far in 2025, DH/pitcher is slashing .300/.396/.643, combining for an OPS of 1.039. He’s also hit 25 home runs this season, driven in 43 runs, and has stolen 11 bags. To put it simply, this is a great hitter.
Now, is Ohtani capable of closing out games? Yeah, probably. After all, he did it in the 2023 World Baseball Classic when he was brought in to face former teammate Mike Trout, who at the time was arguably the best hitter in baseball (Ohtani struck him out, giving Japan the title). He also throws really hard, something most closing pitchers need to do, and could probably transition into the role just fine.
The problem isn’t a matter of capability as much as it is one of practicality. By putting Ohtani in a save situation late in games, you are effectively gambling that he ends the game right then and there. Because if he doesn’t, you’re faced with a situation where he might have to be replaced, not just on the mound, but in the lineup as well.
“Well, can’t you just leave him in there since he’s used to starting games anyway?” No.
Ohtani is coming off a very serious injury that kept him off the mound for two years, and overworking him in a closer role (that requires many more appearances than starting does) is way too risky, especially given his value to the Dodgers franchise. The Dodgers also have a very capable closer already in Tanner Scott, who signed a 4-year, $72 million contract with the team this past offseason.
If Shohei is going to pitch, it’s going to be as a starter.
Shohei’s Closing Pitcher Card In MLB The Show 23 Was Great
To be completely fair, I get why many people — especially MLB The Show 25 players — would be disappointed that Ohtani won’t be having a closing pitcher card that can hit any time soon. After all, his World Baseball Classic card in MLB The Show 23 was awesome!
Not only was he an incredibly effective relief pitcher who had an outlier fastball, but he also had cracked hitting attributes! In fact, while playing Ranked co-op, my brother and I would choose this card pre-game just to use him as a pitch hitter for our DH, effectively giving us 7 Diamond-rated hitters as opposed to 6.
The only problem was that MLB The Show 23 (and pretty much any game in the series that allows multiplayer) wasn’t exactly stable. While it was rare, using the relief pitching Ohtani as a pinch hitter would occasionally lead to the game crashing or ending in the dreaded freeze-off. Eventually, we decided that it would be best if we stopped using the WBC Ohtani card in that way, though that didn’t stop many of our opponents from doing the same.
So yeah, having another card like that would be awesome. But, don’t hold your breath.
