{"id":278848,"date":"2026-04-21T17:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/278848\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:59:07","slug":"dave-roberts-sharp-reply-to-cubs-criticism-of-ohtani-roster-exception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/278848\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Roberts’ sharp reply to Cubs criticism of Ohtani roster exception"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dave Roberts took exception to comments from Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell on Monday about a rule that makes Shohei Ohtani<\/a> an exception. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an exception because he\u2019s an exceptional player,\u201d the Dodgers<\/a> manager told reporters after his team\u2019s 12-3 victory against the Colorado Rockies.<\/p>\n

Addressing the rash of injuries to Cubs pitchers and whether teams should have more roster flexibility than the rules currently allow, Counsell questioned the fairness of the MLB rule<\/a> that allows Ohtani to be excluded from the 13-pitcher roster maximum because he is a two-way player. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not another player like that, but one team gets different rules for that player,\u201d Counsell told reporters.<\/p>\n

MLB rosters are capped at 26 players, up to 13 of whom can be designated as pitchers. Players designated as position players are not allowed to pitch unless a game is in extra innings or there is at least a six-run differential in the score when they take the mound.<\/p>\n

Teams can also designate two-way players \u2014 players who are both position players and pitchers \u2014 if they meet certain criteria: In the previous season they must have pitched at least 20 major league innings and started at least 20 major league games as a position player or designated hitter, with at least three plate appearances in each of those games.<\/p>\n

Ohtani, who won most valuable player awards in four of the last five seasons, is the lone two-way player. Counsell termed the rule \u201cbizarre.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s one team that\u2019s allowed to carry basically one of both, and that he gets special consideration,\u201d he said. \u201cWhich is probably the most bizarre rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts offered a pointed rebuttal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly benefits us, because we have the player,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that\u2019s something that, any team that had Ohtani would have that player.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re more than willing for other teams to go out and find a player who can do both.\u201d <\/p>\n

The rule exception helps the Dodgers in one obvious way: They can utilize a six-man starting rotation while maintaining the full complement of eight relievers. Any other team using six starters would be down to seven relievers.<\/p>\n

The topic likely will be revisited when the Cubs visit the Dodgers for a three-game series this weekend. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave Roberts took exception to comments from Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell on Monday about a rule that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[120280,120283,120284,4396,120282,57251,120279,48,52,51,47,50,49,120286,120285,120281,5408,20460,422,427,17292],"class_list":{"0":"post-278848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-counsell","9":"tag-cubs-manager-craig-counsell","10":"tag-cubs-pitcher","11":"tag-dave-roberts","12":"tag-dodgers-manager","13":"tag-exception","14":"tag-exceptional-player","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-la-headlines","17":"tag-la-news","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","20":"tag-los-angeles-news","21":"tag-major-league-innings","22":"tag-ohtani-roster-exception","23":"tag-position-player","24":"tag-reporter","25":"tag-rule","26":"tag-shohei-ohtani","27":"tag-team","28":"tag-two-way-player"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}