Andrew Friedman Makes Firm Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Decision

“Viewing it on a shorter-term horizon, it’s easy to want to be aggressive and push- I think both from him and from us,” Friedman said, per Dodgers Nation. “But we set out to view this as putting him in the best position to pitch over the next nine years and prioritizing longevity, and this first year back, it’s really important for that long-term aspect to not be too aggressive right now.”

Friedman also added that he understands how difficult it is for Ohtani to continue pitching and playing at the level he has as a hitter.

With how good he's been in recent years offensively, the Dodgers certainly don't want to lose anything on that front.

“I can’t imagine how tiring it is to do both,” Friedman said. “It’s one thing when you’re in that rhythm of it and you are in shape for that. But it’s been a while since he did both, and this is pretty uncharted because we’ve never been around a guy that does both at this level. And so it’s just trying to do everything we can to build up the muscles in the right arm but also build up the endurance from a body standpoint of doing both and not fatiguing him in a way that makes his offense suffer.”