Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Honored That MLB Changed Rules for Him

The two-way player introduced the "two-way player" rules into MLB.

Sep 10, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) smiles after he was awarded first base on catcher interference during the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Shohei Ohtani is not explicitly mentioned in the Major League Baseball rulebook. Colloquially, ask a baseball industry person about the "Shohei Ohtani rules" and they will readily tell you about the exceptions the league has made for him in recent years.

Every team except the Dodgers is limited to carrying 13 pitchers on their roster. Because Ohtani is MLB's only "two-way player" under the league-imposed criteria, he can rack up innings as a pitcher while only counting toward the Dodgers' limit of 13 position players.

Players qualify for the two-way player designation if they have pitched at least 20 innings and started 20 games as a position player or DH (with at least three plate appearances in 20 games) in either the current MLB season or any of the two previous seasons.

As Ohtani's workload has evolved in response to injuries over the years, so has MLB's definition of a "two-way player."

The same can be said of the designated hitter rule, which the American League adopted in 1973 and the National League adopted in 2022. The DH rule was amended prior to the 2022 season to allow a two-way player to be replaced as a pitcher but remain in the game as a DH.

Of course, none of this has been lost on Ohtani himself.

“If we talk about what’s made me happiest up until now, it’s that MLB, which has a history of close to 150 years, created new rules — such as the two-way player designation, or that you can be inserted into the lineup as a DH when you’re pitching,” he told the Japanese sports magazine Number. “Because what I was doing was worthwhile, it was able to take a tangible form. It made me happy that people would think like that in the country that gave birth to baseball.”

Had the National League adopted the DH rule earlier in its history, perhaps Ohtani would have signed with the Dodgers — not the Angels — in December 2017.

As it happened, Ohtani spent the first six years of his MLB career in the American League, effectively proving the concept that a player can succeed as both a DH and a starting pitcher.

Not only did that lead the Dodgers to offer him a 10-year, $700 million contract, it led the league itself to modify its rules. Ohtani, fans of the Dodgers and fans of baseball at large have every reason to be thankful.

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