Overview
- Cubs manager Craig Counsell, speaking Monday before Chicago’s series opener, called the MLB rule that lets the Dodgers roster 14 pitchers because of Shohei Ohtani “bizarre.”
- MLB caps teams at 13 pitchers on a 26-man roster until Sept. 1, but a two-way player does not count as a pitcher, which lets Los Angeles keep an extra arm.
- The two-way tag requires at least 20 MLB innings pitched and 20 starts as a position player or DH with three plate appearances in each start in the current season or either of the two prior seasons.
- Ohtani is the only active player who meets those marks, so he is the reason the Dodgers can exceed the 13-pitcher limit under a rule adopted in 2020.
- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts answered that the team is using an existing rule and said any club could benefit if it develops a player who can do both, while no rule change has been announced as the injury-hit Cubs seek pitching help.