Shohei Ohtani originally planned to go straight to the United States after graduating from Hanamaki Higashi High School to pursue a career in Major League Baseball. Los Angeles Dodgers scout Keiji Kojima had evaluated him primarily as a pitcher, believing that with two or three years of development in the minor leagues, Ohtani had the potential to win multiple Cy Young Awards.

However, when the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters selected Ohtani in the draft—despite his public declaration that he intended to go to America—their evaluation was slightly different. They believed he could become a regular hitter within one or two years, and a starting pitcher in about three. In other words, both sides of his game were considered elite-level talents.

It was Fighters manager Hideki Kuriyama who proposed something radical: why not let him do both?

While there had been players in Japanese baseball history who occasionally appeared as both pitcher and hitter, no one had sustained true two-way excellence at the professional level. The idea was unconventional—borderline absurd in the eyes of many.

But innovation often begins with ideas that sound unreasonable.

Kuriyama believed in it. Ohtani, who had always been driven by the desire to attempt what no one else had done, found the idea irresistible. The “crazy” concept of two-way baseball perfectly aligned with his challenge-oriented mindset.

On December 9, 2012—about a month and a half after the draft—Ohtani officially decided to join Nippon-Ham. That decision marked the beginning of the two-way path that would eventually change baseball history.

Source

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

Way Opening, Crossing the Sea: The Real Face of Shohei Ohtani, p.198