Prior to 2022, MLB adopted the “Shohei Ohtani Rule” for two-players, saying any player in the game as a pitcher and a DH can be removed from one role without being removed from the other. Clearly done t keep one of the most exciting talents in the game for fans, but did they think this through?

Most of the time, the player will be removed as a pitcher. In this case, he can continue as a DH and everything works out. But what happens if someone wants to pinch hit for the DH?

While this rule was written with Ohtani in mind, it applies to every two way player. So while trying to think of any non-injury-related reason to pinch hit for Ohtani is a waste of time, it’s still a possibility with any other two way player.

Hypothetical example - Bobby Dalbec was a very good pitcher in college and decides his best chance to stay in MLB is to add pitching to his repertoire. So say he is starting and because the opposing pitcher is left-handed, Cora also starts Dalbec at DH, batting him 6th in front of 1b Garrett Cooper.

Come to, say, the sixth inning in a 0-0 game. Dalbec is coming up with men on base. It’s late enough that this could be an important at-bat, but not so late that Dalbec’s pitch count takes him off the mound anyway. With Dalbec due up, the opposing manager brings in a RHP. Cora counters by pinch-hitting for Dalbec with LHH Dominic Smith. So now Dalbec is out of the game as the DH. Smith and Cooper both bat and finish out the inning, with Smith driving in a run with a sac fly.

Come next inning, per the Shohei Ohtani Rule, Dalbec can still come out and pitch. Now with a 1-0 lead, Cora wants to put Smith in at 1b for better defense. But as Smith entered the game as a DH, putting him in the field means the Sox pitcher has to bat

The Sox pitcher is Dalbec.

Cooper winds up bring the player removed, vacating the seventh spot in the order. But who replaces him? Smith entered the game batting sixth. Dalbec has been batting sixth all game. Obviously one of these guys has to bat 7th.

It seems like an unlikely overall scenario, but with 30 teams playing 162 times each year, if we see enough two way players, it could easily become a reality with different names involved.

But do the rules cover how to handle this? Or is it an oversight on a rule that was pushed through to accommodate one popular player?

Hopefully the answer isn’t “if the player gets removed as DH, he also comes out as the pitcher.” That would clear up the mess, but it would be shameful if MLB allowed a manager to force a pitching change by attacking the matchup against the rival DH…