{"id":128603,"date":"2026-04-21T12:12:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/cubs-manager-calls-out-special-exception-for-shohei-ohtani-dodgers-dave-roberts-comes-to-rules-defense-128603"},"modified":"2026-04-21T12:12:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:12:45","slug":"cubs-manager-calls-out-special-exception-for-shohei-ohtani-dodgers-dave-roberts-comes-to-rules-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/cubs-manager-calls-out-special-exception-for-shohei-ohtani-dodgers-dave-roberts-comes-to-rules-defense-128603","title":{"rendered":"Cubs manager calls out ‘special exception’ for Shohei Ohtani; Dodgers’ Dave Roberts comes to rule’s defense"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It goes without saying that by being a unicorn, Shohei Ohtani<\/a> certainly gets “exceptions.”<\/p>\n

Major League Baseball<\/a> allows 13 pitchers on a roster, but the Los Angeles Dodgers, including Ohtani, have 14. That’s because Ohtani is officially listed as a two-way player, not a pitcher.<\/p>\n

During a game in Philadelphia on Monday, Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell was asked about the 13-pitcher rule when, unprovoked, hinted at the Dodgers and Ohtani getting a “special consideration.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a rule to help offense, I think, more than anything, if you ask me,” Counsell said. “And then there\u2019s one team that\u2019s allowed to carry basically one of both, and that he gets special consideration. Which is probably the most bizarre rule. … For one team.”<\/p>\n

The two-way player designation is for players with at least 20 innings pitched in the major leagues and at least 20 big league starts as a position player or designated hitter, with at least three plate appearances in each of those games. The player has to reach those numbers in the current or any one of the two most recent seasons.<\/p>\n

The designation went into effect for the 2020 season. The 31-year-old Ohtani is the only current player who meets the criteria.<\/p>\n

SHOHEI OHTANI ON-BASE STREAK TRACKER: OHTANI TIES CHOO, MILLAR WITH 52-STRAIGHT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“There\u2019s not another player like that, but one team gets different rules for that player,” said Counsell.<\/p>\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, however, defended the rule and noted that it’s available to everyone.<\/p>\n

“The thing is, it certainly benefits us, because we have the player,” Roberts said in Colorado. “But that\u2019s something that, any team that had Ohtani would have that player.”<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re more than willing for other teams to go out and find a player who can do both. He\u2019s an exception because he\u2019s an exceptional player<\/a>. It is what it is.”<\/p>\n

Entering the 2022 season, months after Ohtani’s day was cut short after pitching just one-third of an inning while hitting leadoff, Major League Baseball made a rule so that if a starting pitcher was in the batting lineup, he could stay in the lineup even after being taken out of the mound as a designated two-way player.<\/p>\n

During the World Series and even earlier this month<\/a>, Ohtani brought attention to seemingly longer warmup sessions on the mound because he had been on the basepaths.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow Fox News Digital\u2019s\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>sports coverage on X<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0and subscribe to\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/cubs-manager-calls-special-exception-shohei-ohtani-dodgers-dave-roberts-comes-rules-defense <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It goes without saying that by being a unicorn, Shohei Ohtani certainly gets “exceptions.” Major League Baseball allows 13 pitchers on a roster, but the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-128603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCubs manager calls out 'special exception' for Shohei Ohtani; Dodgers' Dave Roberts comes to rule's defense - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/cubs-manager-calls-out-special-exception-for-shohei-ohtani-dodgers-dave-roberts-comes-to-rules-defense-128603\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cubs manager calls out 'special exception' for Shohei Ohtani; 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