What happened: ESPN's Buster Olney said the way the Los Angeles Dodgers are managing Shohei Ohtani as a two-way player points to a finite window for the dual role. "I think it's something that tells us that going forward, this is not gonna be something he's gonna do to the end of his career," Olney said.

Why it matters: How long Ohtani keeps pitching and hitting shapes the Dodgers' rotation planning, roster construction and how they protect the most valuable player in the sport. Durability is the backdrop: Ohtani was forced out of a June game in Pittsburgh with an injury, the kind of scare that fuels caution around his two-way workload.

What to watch: Watch how the Dodgers deploy Ohtani on the mound through the second half of the 2026 season — the frequency of his starts and any added rest will show how aggressively Los Angeles is throttling the two-way role.