Before yesterday’s Cubs-Dodgers game Jay Mariotti discussed comments Cubs manager Craig Consell Made earlier in the week about the “Ohtani Rule” in MLB which sparked some conversation in various circles of sports fans. So, today’s Binary Response looks at the various realities behind the rule. Please visit Binary News where regular opinion pieces cover business, politics, sports, technology, and more.
Craig Counsell has blasted the rule that lets the Dodgers carry a 14th pitcher because Shohei Ohtani is officially a two-way player, calling it bizarre and a bad rule and arguing it amounts to special treatment for one team,
Major league rosters are capped at 13 pitchers for most of the season, but because Ohtani doesn’t count against that limit under the two-way designation, the Dodgers effectively get Ohtani plus a full 13-man staff.
Counsell’s core complaint is competitive balance. In practice, Ohtani is the only active player who meets the criteria, so a rule that’s available to everyone becomes a one-team perk. That gives Los Angeles extra pitching depth every single day.
He’s also frustrated by how it undercuts the purpose of the 13-pitcher cap. MLB introduced that limit to rein in constant bullpen shuttling and tilt the game back toward offense.
In Counsell’s view, it makes no sense to say teams must live within tighter pitching limits for the good of the sport, while also giving the defending champs a built-in workaround because they employ a once-in-a-generation type of player.
When his own Cubs are grinding through injuries and still stuck at 13 pitchers, watching the Dodgers operate with a de facto 14-man staff understandably feels like MLB is writing a different rulebook for the richest team with the biggest star.
From the league’s side, though, there is a clear logic to why the rule exists.
MLB added the two-way designation and related exceptions in 2020 to answer the question, How do you let a true two-way starter exist in a modern, specialized league without breaking the DH rule or punishing a team’s roster math?
To qualify, a player must pitch at least 20 major-league innings and make at least 20 starts as a position player or DH with three plate appearances in each game over the current or prior two seasons. It’s a high bar that only Ohtani currently clears.
The idea is straightforward though. If a team signs a legitimate two-way star, it shouldn’t be punished by having one roster spot do the work of two without any flexibility elsewhere. And it does not matter if they signed that player from high school, college, or overseas.
When that two-way player is also a starting pitcher with a middle-of-the-order bat, the logic becomes even clearer.
Thanks to the Universal DH rule which gives all teams a DH a roster needs one spot for a top-of-the-rotation arm and another for a full-time DH. With Ohtani, one player fills both roles. The roster exception is essentially MLB giving back the extra slot that would normally go to a separate hitter.
The 2022 refinement of the Ohtani rule — allowing a starting pitcher who is also his team’s DH to remain in the lineup after leaving the mound — was designed to keep that kind of star on the field for fans and TV while still preserving modern pitcher usage.
There’s also a health and strategy angle.
Teams that commit to a true two-way starter often want a six-man rotation or extra rest built in. Under a strict 13-pitcher cap, that would thin the bullpen. The two-way carve-out lets teams protect their pitchers while still covering the late innings.
And because almost no one can meet the qualifying thresholds, the rule functions less like random favoritism and more like a targeted incentive. It rewards the rare player-and-team combination willing to take on the workload and risk of a true two-way role.
Here’s the thing, folks: Counsell is right that the rule creates a one-team edge — and still argue against a system that has its own internal logic.
With tha… MLB wanted to make room for a starting pitcher with a real bat, someone worth keeping in the lineup as much as possible. The rule is the league’s attempt to make that experiment sustainable without breaking roster construction entirely.
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