Regarding Shohei Ohtani

This article is almost mandatory; it's almost impossible to write a blog about fantasy baseball and not mention Shohei Ohtani. The designated hitter/pitcher is doing something that hasn't been done well since Babe Ruth- just by playing his position of designated hitter/pitcher!

First of all, as a hitter, Ohtani has been stellar. He has a .277 average with a 1.031 OPS and a 172 OPS+. He's tied for second in the MLB in home runs with 25. He also has 11 steals, which is very valuable for rotisserie leagues. And, in ESPN standard points leagues, he's scored 232 fantasy points just from hitting, seventh-most in the league.

Is this sustainable? The answer is yes. His wOBA, expected wOBA, slugging percentage, and expected slugging percentage are all within the top-5 in the league, along with his hard-hit rate. His one flaw is that he strikes out way too much, with his strikeout and whiff percentages being in the bottom 40 and 15, respectively, among 240 qualified batters. However, his amazing skills can overshadow the high strikeout totals, especially in points leagues.

Meanwhile, he also pitches! Ohtani is 3-1 with a 2.58 ERA and a 1.180 WHIP, but he has a 3.52 FIP, showing that he's likely to regress. He has an outstanding 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings, but he also has a worrisome 4.7 walks per nine. He's scored 174 more fantasy points due to his pitching this year.

Is this sustainable? Not to this level, for his peripherals are definitely concerning. He's giving up too much hard contact, with hard-hit and exit velocity rates in the bottom third of the league. The walks are also obviously a problem due to his 12.8% walk rate. His chase rate is also in the bottom 5% of the league. Due to all of this, it stands to reason that Ohtani will not pitch this well for the rest of the season. But, he still will be a good fantasy starter, especially due to his strikeout numbers.

Overall, Ohtani seems pretty legitimate. However, there's still one problem- injuries. Ohtani has always gotten injured. He's never hit in more than 110 games in one season, and he's already pitched in a career-high 11 games. His injury history, which includes Tommy John surgery, is extremely worrying. While we can't expect him to get hurt, it's always in the back of our minds as fantasy managers.

So, what should fantasy managers do with Ohtani? Trading him now might not be a bad idea, especially in points leagues where his value is highest. Of course, he should be treated as a top-10 player in trade talks, and he shouldn't be traded away for less than at least another established star. But, he's probably not going to continue pitching this well, and it's also very possible that he hits the injured list, so now is a great time to trade him before it's too late.