What Dodgers should read into Shohei Ohtanis remarks on two-way role

Shohei Ohtani wants to be a two-way player again next season.What he said was expected. How he said it was worrisome.“I intend on doing everything,” he said in Japanese.Is next season destined to end the way this one did for the Dodgers, with a broken-down Ohtani rendering their lineup incapable of generating the offense required to return to the World Series?Not necessarily.As Ohtani catalogued his frustrations from his injury-plagued season after the Dodgers were swept out of the playoffs by the Brewers on Thursday night, one particular failure seemed to bother him more than the others.“I wasn’t able to pitch in the postseason,” he said. This was either the best news the Dodgers could have received or an early death knell for their next season.Depends on what Ohtani does to improve his chances of pitching next October.Does he modify his in-season pitching schedule and accept some form of load management?That would give him a chance, not only to pitch in games that matter most, but also to remain the difference-making hitter the Dodgers need him to be.Or does he simply change his offseason workout regimen in hopes that he can strengthen his body to where it can withstand pitching and hitting from Opening Day to the last game of the World Series?Considering how quickly his season was derailed and the effects those injuries had on him as a hitter, that plan would be an invitation for disaster.Ohtani turns 33 next year.He didn’t specify what he was thinking, other than that he would start deliberating a course of action now that the Dodgers were in their offseason.The ambiguity that was both a source of optimism and concern was the result of how Ohtani addressed reporters.A horde of journalists from the United States, Japan and who knows where else formed a semicircle around Ohtani, who fielded inquiries in a scattershot question-and-answer session that lasted about seven minutes.Generally speaking, the questions he was asked were lacking in detail — ...