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OT: The Toronto Blue Jays

This is maybe the best overall season ever in MLB history in progress? To be so dominant at both pitching and hitting like this? Generational - multi-generational even.

As for Ruth, 14 Ks and 47 BBs? Yikes.
 
Baseball lovers should be catching as much of Ohtani as we can...I feel like, in a decade, two maybe, it will be just like oldtimers waxing over Babe Ruth.
I doubt we ever see this again.
 
Actually, I'm thinking we might see it more - maybe not as good, but more players who play both positions.

Because for decades and decades, rising up, it seemed like you naturally pick one or the other - pitcher or hitter - and focus on that. Now that this is happening, I could see kids come to the realization that they should try to be two-position players also, and with the supreme generational athletes that emerge over the years, I would expect more out there will try to emulate this or even best it.
 
I think it's that in the modern game, players need to spend so much effort in practicing their pitching and refining that that they simply don't get the batting practice needed to get up to elite there too.

I don't know what mix led to Ohtani. I think honestly a large part is that he could spend a few years "refining" his tasks overseas, without the pressure of MLB. You're already seeing the few 2-way minors guys like McKay basically drop their hitting part of their journey just because they need to focus on being a pitcher.
 
Yeah there are too many guys specializing in everything now for this to be possible. Ohtani is a once in a multi-generation monster. The guy had Tommy John surgery and couldn’t pitch in 2019, so he just played DH and put up a 121 WRC+.

I’m sure there are plenty of position players that could be decent RP. Ohtani is next level.
 
Yeah, I don't see it happening too often, if ever again. When you do get the rare teenager that is a lights out prospect at both disciplines you will get a lot of very smart people telling them to stop throwing the ball immediately because you're never further than one bad pitch away from having to take a year or more off. Shohei's stick was a shadow of itself while he was rehabbing his elbow from TJ.

Any kid who can hit like that as a prospect should be directed towards being a position player before they inevitably get hurt.
 
manny said:
Yeah there are too many guys specializing in everything now for this to be possible. Ohtani is a once in a multi-generation monster. The guy had Tommy John surgery and couldn’t pitch in 2019, so he just played DH and put up a 121 WRC+.

I’m sure there are plenty of position players that could be decent RP. Ohtani is next level.
Click to expand...

You might get some more guys like a Lorenzen - they make it as a pitcher, and then a couple years later, they kind of see that they have a little bit of a bat too, so can be used as the occasional bench player. But the problem is that if they are anywhat valuable as a pitcher, then teams don't want to use them as a batter. Or if they're anywhat useful as a hitter, then teams don't want to risk injury on them. Like, players like deGrom or Greinke could probably with a little work be useful bench pieces, but they're too valuable as pitchers to waste on a marginal AB here or there
 
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