Back in college, I was writing a paper about how our society gets more specialized over time and I used pitchers hitting as an example. At the time, Dontrelle Willis (the "D Train") was the best hitting pitcher in baseball. I compared his batting numbers those of Walter Johnson, an old timey pitcher who was never held out as an especially good hitter. Walter Johnson had much better numbers at the plate, showing how our standards of what makes a "good hitting pitcher" have eroded over time as pitchers became more specialized and focused less and less on even trying to hit.
I suspect Ohtani will eventually be forced to pick between pitching and hitting and I would pick hitting if I were him but this is a great show this year. Too bad he's the starting DH of the AL in the All Star Game, because it means he likely won't both pitch and hit in the ASG. Even if he weren't leading baseball in WAR, in my opinion a player who manages to be both an above average hitter and an above average pitcher in the same season should win the MVP even if somebody else has more WAR. Same way when Ole Miss had that guy about 10 years ago who could play both offense and defense, I thought he should be considered for the Heisman even if he's merely above average at both roles, even against a guy who's like really outstanding at only one position.
