Former Dodgers reporter drops wild Shohei Ohtani take on MLB Network

Dodgers fans may not like Shohei Ohtani, and we understand that. After all, he expressed a desire to live the west coast lifestyle and clearly loved the Los Angeles area … but, for some reason (shirking the bright lights?) he ultimately selected Anaheim, well off in the countryside compared to Dodger Stadium. It’s fine. We’re fine.

But even the most biased members of the fan base have to admit that the reasoning behind their distaste is that he’s so damn good … and unique. Famously unique.

Ohtani took home the 2021 MVP after mashing 46 homers with a 158 OPS+ while also starring on the mound, going 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA and racking up 9.1 WAR altogether.

If you thought the Mike Trout MVP seasons based on WAR alone were insufferable, just sim through the duration of the Ohtani era. He’s about to double up his closest competitor annually.

In a conversation on MLB Network with Mad Dog Russo this week, though, former Dodgers sideline reporter Alanna Rizzo dropped a different take about why Ohtani’s dominance is bad for baseball.

According to Rizzo, Ohtani can’t be rightfully ruled the No. 1 player in the game because he’s a pitcher and doesn’t play every day. Interesting. Will look into that for sure.

https://twitter.com/mlberrors/status/1511057280254496775?s=20&t=d1XNzsAFq3DxP3z8WL4rUg

Ex-Dodgers reporter Alanna Rizzo says Shohei Ohtani is just a pitcher

Hmm … add this take to the pot alongside Stephen A. Smith’s racist gibberish regarding Ohtani’s ethnicity in the “Face of Baseball” debate last year around Ohtani’s All-Star Game showcase, and you’ve got one disgusting jambalaya.

The real debate here is how fair it’ll ever be to compare Ohtani, who does two things exceptionally well, with the old guard in Trout, the consensus “best player” of the past 15 years who, again, exclusively hits.

Debate shows have no desire to fold up shop and retire the “Best Player Alive?” conversation for the duration of Ohtani’s career, but … gonna be honest, it’s going to be really difficult for anyone to overtake the Angels’ superstar, who excels at both facets of the modern game. Until Rob Manfred reinstalls player managers, it’s going to be quite difficult to be better at more things.

Or, you could just go Rizzo’s route and pretend Ohtani is only a pitcher. That could certainly reawaken the conversation.

If Ohtani were solely a pitcher, his numbers wouldn’t be quite up to snuff; he’s a tick below the deGrom/Scherzer/Cole upper echelon.

If he were solely a hitter, he’d get dinged on his DH position, and would have to fight a similar battle to David Ortiz and Edgar Martinez to be taken seriously.

Luckily for the baseball world, he’s both of those things, no matter what trial balloons Rizzo floats to a slackjawed Mad Dog.

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