Since his days with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Shohei Ohtani has been followed by the same question:
Wouldn’t he be even greater if he focused on just one role?

Even after recording double-digit wins and double-digit home runs in Japan — and later continuing as a two-way player in Major League Baseball despite surgery and setbacks — the debate never disappeared. Whenever he struggled on the mound, some argued he should become a full-time hitter. When he faced challenges at the plate, others suggested he should commit solely to pitching.

But Ohtani rejected the premise of the question itself.

He explained:

“What I’ve come to realize is that it’s not difficult because I’m doing both. It’s that both are difficult. Even if I had chosen just one, I don’t think I would necessarily have won more games or hit better.”

To Ohtani, the difficulty is not created by doing two jobs. The difficulty exists in each job individually. At the professional level, both pitchers and hitters operate at an extraordinary standard. Simply narrowing focus does not guarantee better results.

Yes, physical fatigue might differ. But performance, he believes, ultimately depends on improving one’s skill — not on eliminating the other role.

He has also made it clear that he does not pit the pitcher and the hitter inside himself against each other. They are not rivals. They are not competing for dominance. For Ohtani, there has never been a “which one?” question.

There is only this:

Both are difficult.
And that is precisely why he chooses to do both.

Source

This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.

Baseball Chronicle I: Japan Years 2013–2018, p.89