00:00And Ohtani as a pitcher, well, here we are again.
00:07We've been here a few times, wondering if it's necessary, not just this year, ever.
00:18Let's be very clear.
00:19Ohtani has already been worth his weight in gold on the contract that they gave him to become a Los
00:26Angeles Dodger.
00:27He has one MVP every year.
00:29He has been a Dodger.
00:30He has won the World Series every year.
00:33He has been a Dodger.
00:34Ohtani could retire tomorrow, and I would argue the Dodgers should still pay him the remainder of that contract.
00:42What makes Ohtani so special is the pitching.
00:46Why Ohtani is still the National League MVP favorite is the pitching.
00:52Except, if you've been following this market, Ohtani was minus $2,500 to win this award.
01:02And then the pitching went away.
01:06And Ohtani, as a hitter this year, has been good.
01:12But that's not really supposed to be the bar for Shohei Ohtani, the hitter.
01:18Ohtani's MVP case this season is that he can do both.
01:25Except, it seems he can't.
01:27And the Dodgers don't seem to have an interest in giving Ohtani a real break
01:36to potentially see if he can be back full strength for a postseason run, pitching included.
01:46I am curious if at any point they will give him a real break to get Ohtani back to the
01:55level of hitter we all know he is capable of being.
01:58He did have a great game last night in a loss to Seattle.
02:04Lead-off home run, double-A in the game, three total hits, three RBI.
02:10But he was atrocious coming out of the All-Star break.
02:15And again, the Ohtani, the reason the Ohtani-PCA stuff is so close is you cannot argue Ohtani's been more
02:23valuable offensively than PCA.
02:27So right now, if the playoffs were tomorrow, the Dodgers would throw Yamamoto in game one.
02:37I think Sasaki in game two and Robleski in game three.
02:45So you start to see why the Tariq Skubal rumors are where they are.
02:54They, despite being the Dodgers, could use it.
03:01And it's, it is incredible that that is true.
03:06And what is also true, they are the best team in baseball, record, run differential.
03:15And we might get to the playoffs and all of this feels ridiculous because they can throw Yamamoto and then
03:22Snell and then Skubal and then Klasnow and then Ohtani and you don't even know what's going on anymore.
03:28So, time will tell, but it's not far away.
03:35And I think the pressure mounts if you're Philly, if you're Milwaukee, if you're Atlanta.
03:44Because now it's not only about you having Tariq Skubal, it's about you having a chance against the Dodgers in
03:54a playoff series.
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