\u201cOhtani of college baseball.\u201d<\/a> But he, too, has found a one-way track to the major leagues as a position player.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1554011032-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Jac Caglianone\u2019s two-way player exploits at Florida made him college baseball\u2019s most well-known face in 2024. (Jay Biggerstaff \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
So the question remains, with all of this two-way talent in college and professional baseball, why haven\u2019t we seen anyone join Ohtani as a two-way player in the major leagues the past few years? Part of the reason could come down to the complication of creating a development plan for a player who pitches and hits. But the main blockade could boil down to MLB roster rules.<\/p>\n
Starting in 2020, a new MLB rule altered who qualified to have the two-way classification on an official roster. To earn the distinction, a player would need to pitch in 20 MLB innings and play in at least 20 MLB games as a position player or DH, with at least three plate appearances in each game in either the current or previous MLB season.<\/p>\n
This distinction matters because those designated as two-way players would not count toward the limit of 13 pitchers on the 26-man roster. The designation would essentially allow teams to carry an extra pitcher on the roster.<\/p>\n
That same rule stunted Jake Cronenworth\u2019s growth as a two-way player. The San Diego Padres infielder was a two-way player in college during his time at Michigan. When he was drafted by the Rays, he got reps pitching in Triple A and even threw bullpen sessions later when he was acquired by the Padres. But since making it to the majors, he has only pitched once, in a game that went into extra-innings against the Dodgers in 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does somebody need to qualify for something they\u2019ve already proven they can do in college or the minor leagues?\u201d Cronenworth asked. \u201cAnd all of a sudden they have to qualify to do it in the major leagues? To me, that doesn\u2019t make any sense. Now you\u2019re taking away this guy\u2019s natural ability to do two things at a high level, and now you have to make them basically earn it again?\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside of earning the two-way classification, the only way a hitter would be able to pitch in a game or vice versa would be in a game that goes to extra innings or when their team is either winning or trailing by six runs or more in a contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could go four games where you have that,\u201d Cronenworth said. \u201cYou could go three weeks where you never have that. So you\u2019re getting put on the roster as a hitter but you\u2019re a two-way guy and you can only pitch in certain situations. But if you put a guy on the roster as a pitcher, now you\u2019re taking away that bullpen spot. That was really the thing that hurt all the (two-way) guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with Cronenworth\u2019s two-way dreams stalling out, he still believes that there is a place for it even if it\u2019s not at the level of what Ohtani has been doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother value,\u201d Cronenworth said, \u201cis you have your bench guy who comes in, makes a start sometimes, pinch-hitter at the end of the game but also available in the bullpen. So now you kind of have this kind of super-utility bench guy who\u2019s playing 150 games a year, some as a pitcher, some as a hitter. I think that would be the next-best thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some players had a choice. Coming out of high school, Reds right-hander Hunter Greene was touted as a big two-way star. The Reds believed in his potential, selecting him with the second pick in the 2017 draft.<\/p>\n
But because of that high selection, in addition to his coming out of high school versus college or another league, he and the Reds decided to cut short his two-way development.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn today\u2019s game, it\u2019s a lot harder to develop hitters, especially high school hitters,\u201d said Shawn Pender, the Reds\u2019 vice president of player development. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that go into it that are difficult, more difficult than a pitcher. (Greene) knew what he needed to do from a secondary pitch standpoint, so his path to the big leagues is certainly going to be quicker than if you were to be a high school hitter that is now trying to do both.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caglianone followed a similar route to Greene by taking the advice of the team to get to the majors quicker, and it paid off with him getting called up less than a year after being drafted.<\/p>\n
Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach showed promise as a two-way player in college, culminating in his winning the John Olerud Award in 2021. Despite that, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he had to choose.<\/p>\n
He had people in his corner urging him to choose one or the other, but ultimately Schwellenbach made the decision based on his own personal experiences. After getting Tommy John surgery following his junior year of college, he knew that the physical demands on a two-way player in college were simply too much for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a good recipe to stay healthy,\u201d Schwellenbach said. \u201cDoing both is almost impossible, especially if you\u2019re gonna play a position and pitch. There\u2019s not enough time to heal up in between starts and get enough work in to play both positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Injury risk, according to players and execs, another significant reason for the lack of two-way players. Royals reliever Lucas Erceg was drafted as a power-hitting third baseman out of college. In 2021, he\u2019d pitch in Double A one or-two times a week and either play first, third or DH upwards of five times a week.<\/p>\n
Erceg soon felt soreness in his pitching arm. And during at-bats, whenever he\u2019d swing over a change-up, he\u2019d hyperextend his elbow slightly. Before long, Erceg committed fully to pitching after realizing his body simply couldn\u2019t hold up.<\/p>\n
Even Ohtani isn\u2019t immune to overuse injuries. He\u2019s had two major elbow surgeries within five years. And during a recent start, the Dodgers star exited the game after throwing six straight balls. Ohtani cited cramping in his right hip as the issue.<\/p>\n
One NL scout believes that moments like these are why teams are hesitant to let more of their guys become two-way players.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all goes back to the number one fear: injury,\u201d the NL scout said. \u201cTeams are scared to risk hurting their best hitter or one of their best hitters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scout cited another reason for Ohtani\u2019s standing as baseball\u2019s only two-way player: the belief that kids tend to specialize earlier more today than they did in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re a pick-one society more today than we used to be,\u201d the scout said. \u201cWe\u2019re very big at categorizing right away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, players such as Lorenzen still want to give playing both ways a try, even insisting he has no problem going down to Triple A to take at-bats to prove he still has what it takes. Caglianone said he\u2019d be \u201clying\u201d if he still didn\u2019t think about the possibility of being a two-way player. But despite the interest, Ohtani stands alone as the sole two-way star in today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure we can look forward to having another two-way player in the future,\u201d Ohtani said through his interpreter Will Ireton. \u201cWhen that time comes, I\u2019ll be excited as much as that person will be too. In that sense I\u2019m just excited for that kind of possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, for now, that possibility seems remote.<\/p>\n
(Top photo: Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This June, Shohei Ohtani stepped onto the mound for the first time in 21 months. Two minutes after…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2502,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-145795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115028644702263816","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}