Since his days at Hanamaki Higashi High School, Shohei Ohtani has repeatedly gone through periods when he could not pitch.
Most of those absences were caused by injuries or surgery.
Among them, Tommy John surgery is especially demanding, often requiring more than a full year of rehabilitation, with some pitchers needing two years before fully regaining their previous velocity and form.
After Ohtani’s first surgery, he did not pitch at all during the 2019 season.
In 2020, he appeared in only two games as a pitcher.
It was not until 2021 that he truly returned to form, eventually recording seasons of 9, 15, and 10 wins.
Long rehabilitation periods can be mentally exhausting for athletes.
But Ohtani has said that being a two-way player helped save him emotionally during those difficult stretches.
Because he could still hit — and because his hitting ability was already among the best in Major League Baseball — he was able to remain on the field and continue competing.
In fact, Ohtani admitted that if he had been only a pitcher, he might never have undergone a second surgery.
Watching other pitchers struggle through rehabilitation taught him how difficult it can be to maintain confidence and motivation while being unable to play.
That is why he said:
“Even if I can’t pitch, I can still stay in games by hitting, so in that sense, I think I’m fortunate.”
What makes Ohtani truly extraordinary is that even during rehabilitation as a pitcher, he was still capable of producing historic achievements as a hitter.
While recovering from elbow surgery, he became the first player in Major League history to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.
Very few athletes could turn a rehabilitation year into one of the greatest offensive seasons baseball has ever seen.
Ohtani’s two-way talent did not merely help him survive adversity.
It allowed him to transform adversity into greatness.
Source
This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.
Number 1094–1095