Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Shohei Ohtani is not a two way player and should not be MVP over Aaron Judge in 2022.

Updated 10/12/2022 to reflect the position "DH P", which unfortunately in baseball-reference.com is in the game log for Shohei Ohtani but not in his splits, which contains this incomprehensible "explanation" below the Defensive Positions box:

at Def. Pos. refers to plate appearances taken as C/2B/SS/CF, at Off. Pos. refers to plate appearances taken as 1B/3B/LF/RF/DH/PH.

No mention of pitchers. OK, back to my original post, somewhat updated to deal with this nonsense.

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Pitchers are not baseball players. I've said it for years. If they could play, they would. But they can't.

Shohei Ohtani is a baseball player who can pitch. He could play both ways but he doesn't.

However, in 2022 the Designated Hitter (DH) rule was added to the National League. It had been in the American League since 1973. With its extension to the NL, a change was made to accommodate Ohtani: DH P. That's what appears in his game log for his position when he pitches and also bats. This designation allows a pitcher to bat without impacting the DH.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-rule-changes-for-2022

AMENDED DESIGNATED HITTER RULE: With the Designated Hitter in place in both leagues in 2022, the Official Baseball Rules have also been amended to afford additional flexibility to starting pitchers who bat for themselves. Such a player will be considered two separate people for purposes of Rule 5.11(a). If the player is replaced as a starting pitcher, he can continue as the Designated Hitter, and if the Designated Hitter is replaced, he can continue as the starting pitcher (but can no longer bat for himself). Part of new Rule 5.11(b)

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So in 2022 for the first time in his career, when Ohtani pitches, he may also bat as DH. And Ohtani did in 2022.

But when Ohtani is only a designated hitter, he still does not play the field. In his entire career Ohtani has played the outfield in 7 games: 8 innings. Zero innings in the field as a non pitcher batter in 2022.

2022 splits:

DH includes DH P.

Defensive Positions

SplitGGSPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSTBGDPHBPSHSFIBBROEBAbiptOPS+sOPS+
as DH15366258290159296349511972159.273.357.519.8753026503144.319100145
as PH444110000002.250.250.500.7502000000.50067131

OPS+: 145 down from 157 in 2021

ERA+: 172 up from 141 in 2021

Game Outcome for Pitcher -- Game-Level

SplitWLW-L%ERAGGSGFCGSHOSVIPHRERHRBBIBBSOHBPBKWPBFWHIPSO9SO/W
in Wins1501.0000.661515000095.2528712701311063620.82612.34.85
in Losses09.0006.0999000044.151313011120630031941.42112.85.25
in No Dec.002.0844000026.02166250251051041.0008.75.00

In 9 of 28 games (32%), all starts, Ohtani was terrible: ERA 6.09.

20222022202220222022202220212021202120212022-2021Dif/2022
RkNameTmHRABAB/HRRkHRABAB/HRDif%Dif
1Aaron JudgeNYY625709.19354838753955014.10256414.90901571553.40%
3Yordan Alvarez*HOU3747012.7027027143353716.272727273.5700245728.10%
7Vladimir Guerrero Jr.TOR3263819.937514860412.58333333-7.354166667-36.89%
Salvador PerezKCR2344519.3478260914862012.91666667-6.43115942-33.24%
4Shohei Ohtani*LAA3458617.2352941234653711.67391304-5.561381074-32.27%

Ohtani's AB/HR is down 32% in 2022 from 2021. Judge is up 53%.

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Aaron Judge:

Photo of Aaron Judge

Aaron Judge

Position: Rightfielder

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-7282lb (201cm, 127kg)

Team: New York Yankees (majors)

Born: April 261992 (Age: 30-169d) in Linden, CA us





Defensive Positions

SplitGGSPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSTBGDPHBPSHSFIBBROEBAbiptOPS+sOPS+
as CF7733528370961403271824674.339.429.7281.1572065103111.356107231
as RF6024619745611201941514369.310.439.6601.098130930150.382100205
as DH25111871820201119302131.230.387.6321.02055020130.19683183
as PH443000000011.000.250.000.2500000000.000-41-20

Judge started 137 games in the field.

Judge led AL in Runs, HR, RBI, BB, OBP (On Base AVERAGE), SLG, OPS, OPS+ (211), TB.

2022 is the first year that Ohtani qualified for leading in pitching average stats like ERA. 162 innings are needed. Ohtani had 166, up from 130 in 2021. Ohtani led AL in Strike Outs per 9 innings (SO9).

Oh, Judge led in that Wins Above Replacement (WAR) stuff, if you're into it.

Aaron Judge #4 in 60 Home Runs seasons ranked by (AB/HR) percent difference from top HR that season. Final stats. Monday, October 3, 2022

Ohtani v. Ruth revisited, on this, Ohtani's 28th birthday.
Tuesday, July 5, 2022

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