DH & SP Ohtani

[bwburke94]

Originally Posted by crowhop

What about using Ohtani, or any other two-way guy, as a Reliver and DH? I want to bring him in as the Follower and I cannot get him into the game to pitch at all. As it is currently set, a two-way player is either a SP or nothing. Am I missing something here?

Only the starting pitcher can be a P/DH.

[crowhop]

Originally Posted by bwburke94

Only the starting pitcher can be a P/DH.

Is it not possible to configure the league rules in such a way as to allow the DH and Relief Pitcher to be the same guy?

[renojedi]

Ohtani rule in MLB is for the SP so it probably just coded that way. Either on or off.

[kq76]

Ohtani rule for SP and RP would simply be NL rules wouldn't they? Only that everyone would be forced to play that way.

EDIT: No, I'm confusing "the Ohtani rule" with pitchers simply hitting for themselves.

[crowhop]

Originally Posted by kq76

Ohtani rule for SP and RP would simply be NL rules wouldn't they? Only that everyone would be forced to play that way.

That's the current rule, but can you create a league rule to allow for a Reliever to be the DH?

[kq76]

No, I'm pretty sure you cannot.

I just tried not starting him, then in the bottom of the 5th I warmed him up, but didn't bring him in. In the top of the 6th I had him PH for the DH, and then in the bottom of the 6th I thought I could then, maybe, insert him as pitcher and he just wouldn't go (even though he was already in the warm-up spot). I guess because he was already in the game as a batter that he can't be brought in to pitch? I couldn't even move him out of the bullpen. I'm not sure this is in agreement with MLB's rules however. MLB.com says, "If a player serving as the DH is later used on defense, he continues to bat in his same lineup spot.". Shouldn't pitcher count as "defense"?

I then tried again, but instead of him PHing first, I had him come in as a reliever and the very next half inning the DH was up first and I couldn't bring in to bat. I didn't expect I could though.

I then tried one more idea, switching him in at bat at the same time. I first tried placing him in as pitcher, but it wouldn't allow it since the Angels were at bat. So I put him in at DH (he didn't bat) and then tried putting him in at pitcher the following half inning. But that didn't work either.

I don't immediately see why MLB shouldn't allow it if they don't. I mean, if you've got a reliever that is as good at batting as Ohtani is, then why shouldn't they let relievers hit for themselves too?

[crowhop]

Originally Posted by kq76

No, I'm pretty sure you cannot.

I just tried not starting him, then in the bottom of the 5th I warmed him up, but didn't bring him in. In the top of the 6th I had him PH for the DH, and then in the bottom of the 6th I thought I could then, maybe, insert him as pitcher and he just wouldn't go (even though he was already in the warm-up spot). I guess because he was already in the game as a batter that he can't be brought in to pitch? I couldn't even move him out of the bullpen. I'm not sure this is in agreement with MLB's rules however. MLB.com says, "If a player serving as the DH is later used on defense, he continues to bat in his same lineup spot.". Shouldn't pitcher count as "defense"?

I then tried again, but instead of him PHing first, I had him come in as a reliever and the very next half inning the DH was up first and I couldn't bring in to bat. I didn't expect I could though.

I then tried one more idea, switching him in at bat at the same time. I first tried placing him in as pitcher, but it wouldn't allow it since the Angels were at bat. So I put him in at DH (he didn't bat) and then tried putting him in at pitcher the following half inning. But that didn't work either.

I don't immediately see why MLB shouldn't allow it if they don't. I mean, if you've got a reliever that is as good at batting as Ohtani is, then why shouldn't they let relievers hit for themselves too?

Totally agree! I couldn't get any scenario to workout without losing the DH, which is contrary to the intent. If they're going to change the rule for one Pitcher, they should change the rule for all Pitchers.

And definitely should be able to change the rule in the game as freely as you please, though understanding coding such is probably tricky.

[Bobfather]

What if you start him at DH, then during the game bring him into relieve?

[Matt Arnold]

If you want a reliever to bat, you will have to forego the DH for the remainder of the game.

[kq76]

Originally Posted by Bobfather

What if you start him at DH, then during the game bring him into relieve?

Good idea. I just tested it and it didn't work either though. If you're allowed to switch fielding positions, shouldn't you be allowed to switch into pitcher as well? When hitters sometimes pitch do they always come in off the bench? Surely one has switched from another position in the field before. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong...

So I went looking for an instance where a batter pitched. I found a Williams Astudillo one, but he came off the bench. The next I found was Mike Freeman for the Reds against the Phillies on June 1, 2021. He didn't start the game in the field, but he did come in to play SS in the 5th and switched to pitcher in the 9th. So my original idea should have worked and so should this last one. I'll try it again...

Nope, it won't do it. And that's regardless of whether the team is on offense or defense when you try to do it. And it doesn't matter if the player is the DH or playing some other position. You can't bring any fielder in to pitch if they're already in the game.

Can someone else try? Maybe there's just a certain way to do it that I'm just not doing.

[Matt Arnold]

Originally Posted by kq76

Good idea. I just tested it and it didn't work either though. If you're allowed to switch fielding positions, shouldn't you be allowed to switch into pitcher as well? When hitters sometimes pitch do they always come in off the bench? Surely one has switched from another position in the field before. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong...

So I went looking for an instance where a batter pitched. I found a Williams Astudillo one, but he came off the bench. The next I found was Mike Freeman for the Reds against the Phillies on June 1, 2021. He didn't start the game in the field, but he did come in to play SS in the 5th and switched to pitcher in the 9th. So my original idea should have worked and so should this last one. I'll try it again...

Nope, it won't do it. And that's regardless of whether the team is on offense or defense when you try to do it. And it doesn't matter if the player is the DH or playing some other position. You can't bring any fielder in to pitch if they're already in the game.

Can someone else try? Maybe there's just a certain way to do it that I'm just not doing.

You can do it by changing the DH to the blank position, where it will pop up with a box saying you will lose the DH for the remainder of the game. At that point, you can switch them (or anyone else) to be the new pitcher (you can only do that when your team is pitching - you can't change pitchers when you're at-bat).

[kq76]

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

You can do it by changing the DH to the blank position, where it will pop up with a box saying you will lose the DH for the remainder of the game. At that point, you can switch them (or anyone else) to be the new pitcher (you can only do that when your team is pitching - you can't change pitchers when you're at-bat).

Ahh! That's it. Just to be clear for anyone who might want to do this in the future, you have to do exactly what Matt said. You have to use the DH player's drop-down on the substitutions screen, change it to the hyphen, and then you can change the same drop-down, or another player's, to the P. You can't just change it from DH to P and you can't drag him from the left side of the screen to the right. I was even able to switch SS Fletcher to P and Ohtani to SS (not that that would be smart moving him to SS, I just wanted to see if you could still switch the DH to the field and keep him in the game).

Thanks, Matt!

[brotherblues]

You have to play out games to make it work then? It ain't possible for the SP to remain as DH if you're in an online league and have to sim the games?

[brotherblues]

Ok, for it to work without playing out the games you need to:

On the individual player's strategy tab:

Check 2 way
Check Skip DH when pitching (language seriously not intuitive here)
Check Lock strategy

You have to check all 3 or it won't work.

It will then have the guy pitch and hit, and he'll remain as DH when removed from the mound, all automatic without having to play out the game.