Despite mountains of evidence that Shohei Ohtani can hit with the best hitters in Major League Baseball, and pitch with the game’s best pitchers, many have expected the Dodgers star to concentrate exclusively on one or the other at some point in his career.
That hasn’t happened yet, even as Ohtani’s elbow sidelined him from pitching for all of 2024, and the first three months of the 2025 regular season.
Since returning to pitching on June 16, Ohtani has thrown nine innings and allowed one run.
Hall of famer John Smoltz believes that’s the tip of the iceberg.
"If he never hits for one year, and just pitches, he'll be the best pitcher in baseball. Period. Hands down. It's not even a debate." 👀
– HOFer John Smoltz on Shohei #Ohtani pic.twitter.com/ANA5clL0CT
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) July 9, 2025
In an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Smoltz said Ohtani could do more on the mound than he’s shown to this point in his career.
“I gave him the ultimate compliment I could give somebody — and believe me, they got on me for this, because they didn’t understand what I was saying,” Smoltz said. “I said … if he never hits for one year and just pitches he’ll be the best pitcher in baseball, period, hands down. It’s not even a debate.
“He’s trying to navigate (being) one of the greatest hitters of all time and trying to pitch,” Smoltz continued. “He’s got so many things, so many balls in the air he’s trying to juggle. If all he did was concentrate on pitching, what my eyes see, and what he’s able to do — hands down.”
Over parts of six seasons as a pitcher, he’s compiled a 38‑19 record with a 2.97 ERA and 618 strikeouts across 490.2 innings and 91 starts. In 2022 with the Angels, he threw a career-high 166 innings, went 15‑9 with a 2.33 ERA, and 219 strikeouts. Ohtani finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting.
After two UCL surgeries — a traditional Tommy John procedure in 2018 and an internal brace procedure five years later — Ohtani is still flashing glimpses of the ace who had a 2.84 ERA across 428.1 innings from 2021-23.
For now, he’s doing it as an opener in 1- to 3-inning bursts. The Dodgers might ramp Ohtani up to a full starter’s workload by the time their 2025 season is over. For now, they’re taking a cautious approach, tempered by Ohtani’s $700 million contract (which runs through the end of the 2033 season) and perhaps his workload at designated hitter.
Take away the DH’s workload, and Smoltz thinks the Dodgers could employ the best pitcher in the game.
