With Major League Baseball's regular season in limbo, Japan's major leaguers are riding out the coronavirus pandemic, waiting for word on when and how they will be able to play ball once again.
If any single player can be said to benefit from the layoff, in which players have been sent home, it is Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels. Ostensibly a two-way player, Ohtani had Tommy John surgery in 2018 and spent most of that Rookie of the Year season and all of 2019 as a designated hitter.
The Angels had expected Ohtani to start 2020 as a DH before returning to the starting rotation after building his pitching strength back up. But since no one knows when the season will start, there's a good chance Ohtani will be in the Angels' rotation from the get-go.