One of Shohei Ohtani’s greatest appeals is that he can throw pitches over 100 miles per hour while also hitting home runs well beyond 400 feet—his longest reaching 493 feet, or roughly 150 meters.

This is far beyond the level of “a pitcher who can hit.”
Even in Major League Baseball, it feels as though two superstars—an elite pitcher and an elite slugger—exist within the same player.

In April 2021, Ohtani started against the Chicago White Sox as the team’s “No. 2 hitter and starting pitcher.”
It was the first time since arriving in America that he appeared in an official MLB game simultaneously as both a pitcher and hitter.

The lineup carried major risk.
If Ohtani struggled early and left the mound quickly, the Angels would be forced to let a pitcher bat in the second spot of the lineup.

But Ohtani immediately silenced those concerns.

After throwing a scoreless first inning, he stepped into the batter’s box and launched a massive 137-meter home run in his first at-bat.

Over the previous three years, many had questioned whether his two-way style could truly succeed at the major league level.
Watching that game, Angels manager Joe Maddon later reflected:

“As a baseball player, he was simply complete. After that game, everyone believed it was possible.”

For most players, being both the team’s starting pitcher and middle-of-the-order hitter would seem overwhelming.
But for Ohtani, the aggressive style of scoring his own runs and then protecting the lead himself represents the purest expression of who he is as a player.

Source

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

Shohei Ohtani Report, p.79