Ohtani Rule: Baseball's New Two-Way Star

0:00On April 29th, Shohei O'Tonney stands out as the modern two-way star in baseball, much like Bay Bruth back in the day. These players do it all, hitting and pitching without the usual limits. Teams can only carry 13 pitches on the roster, but two-way guys don't count toward that cap. They pitch anytime, on Mike regular position players, who mostly sit out mound duty unless it's extra innings or a blowout game. To qualify, a player needs to start at least 20 games as a position player, or designated hitter with three played appearances each, plus log 20, innings pitched in the current season or the last two. Baseball tweaked the rules before the 2022 season, doving it the O'Tonney rule. Now starting pitchers who bat for themselves can stay in as the designated hitter after they're outing on the mound. Managers list them twice on the line of card, once as pitcher and once as D-H, treating them like two-sever players for that purpose. It gets tricky for relievers or other switches. If a two-way player starts as D-H and moves the pitch, they stick around only while on

1:02the mound. Pinch hitting or shifting positions can kill the D-H rule for the whole team. These rules keep the game flexible for rare talents like O'Tonney, balancing offense and pitching without messing up roster math. That's your update from MLB News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the Story.