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You all know who Shohei Otani is. What you probably didnt know is that (this year, at least) in addition to being the best pitcher in Japan, he also is one of the best hitters there. If he qualified for the batting race, his OPS (1.060) would be #3 in the Japan Leagues, behind Tetsuto Yamada (1.095) and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (1.096). He has only about half as many ABs as the qualifiers because he typically hits in only 3 games per week.
#1 - How would fantasy sites accommodate a 2-way player?
I don't think they are set up to do this now: you select a player to be either a hitter or a pitcher, not both. They ignore hitting stats of pitchers. They could modify their code to allow both stats of certain designated pitchers to be counted, but not those of all the other pitchers. If they did this, the fantasy team that got him would in effect have one more player than the other teams. If he's anywhere close to as good in the US as he is in Japan, he probably would be the most valuable fantasy player of all-time. It might be simpler just to create 2 Shohei Otani's: a "hitter-Otani" and a "pitcher-Otani". Then you could draft or bid on each one separately.
#2 - Would an MLB team let him both pitch and hit?
This is a very big real issue as he really wants to do both and his Japanese team (Hokkaido) is letting him do both. This supposedly is a key condition for him coming to MLB at all, as reportedly he wont come if he is not allowed to do both. It's understandable why a MLB team wouldnt want him or any pitcher to hit, because it's hard enough to develop a player to be just a hitter or just a pitcher w/o developing them for both, and because they dont want to expose their pitchers to the additional risks of injury that they would by having them hit. For this latter reason, an AL team might be more inclined to let him hit as he could just DH and not have to play the field (his team plays in the Pacific League which has the DH, so I'm not sure how often he's playing the field in Japan, if at all). I havent heard any MLB team comment on this. At least if I were an AL team, if I thought he could be a star I think I'd let him hit as a DH.
If an MLB team allowed him to do this, it would encourage other pitchers to push for this also. It seems a bit strange to me that this hasnt been tried already, or at least seriously discussed. Altho there hasnt been a 2-way player in MLB since Babe Ruth, these players are common in college (e.g., I've seen both Carlos Rodon and Marcus Stroman as hitters in college). And this would enable a team to extend the size of its bench w/o dropping a pitcher from the roster, which would be particularly valuable in the AL. Potential for a competitive advantage.
BTW, in next year's WBC, he will be allowed to both pitch and hit.
#1 - How would fantasy sites accommodate a 2-way player?
I don't think they are set up to do this now: you select a player to be either a hitter or a pitcher, not both. They ignore hitting stats of pitchers. They could modify their code to allow both stats of certain designated pitchers to be counted, but not those of all the other pitchers. If they did this, the fantasy team that got him would in effect have one more player than the other teams. If he's anywhere close to as good in the US as he is in Japan, he probably would be the most valuable fantasy player of all-time. It might be simpler just to create 2 Shohei Otani's: a "hitter-Otani" and a "pitcher-Otani". Then you could draft or bid on each one separately.
#2 - Would an MLB team let him both pitch and hit?
This is a very big real issue as he really wants to do both and his Japanese team (Hokkaido) is letting him do both. This supposedly is a key condition for him coming to MLB at all, as reportedly he wont come if he is not allowed to do both. It's understandable why a MLB team wouldnt want him or any pitcher to hit, because it's hard enough to develop a player to be just a hitter or just a pitcher w/o developing them for both, and because they dont want to expose their pitchers to the additional risks of injury that they would by having them hit. For this latter reason, an AL team might be more inclined to let him hit as he could just DH and not have to play the field (his team plays in the Pacific League which has the DH, so I'm not sure how often he's playing the field in Japan, if at all). I havent heard any MLB team comment on this. At least if I were an AL team, if I thought he could be a star I think I'd let him hit as a DH.
If an MLB team allowed him to do this, it would encourage other pitchers to push for this also. It seems a bit strange to me that this hasnt been tried already, or at least seriously discussed. Altho there hasnt been a 2-way player in MLB since Babe Ruth, these players are common in college (e.g., I've seen both Carlos Rodon and Marcus Stroman as hitters in college). And this would enable a team to extend the size of its bench w/o dropping a pitcher from the roster, which would be particularly valuable in the AL. Potential for a competitive advantage.
BTW, in next year's WBC, he will be allowed to both pitch and hit.
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