Did Chris Brockman Just Take Credit for Shohei Ohtani’s 2-Way Hot Streak???

The rules of the segment are simple. Every time the cast can replay Chris Brockman's Overreaction Monday take that Shohei Ohtani should stop pitching, they will. Rich played it again. Chris was ready.

The original take, delivered just over a week ago, was unambiguous.

"Enough with the pitching sideshow," Chris had said. "Ohtani needs to go back to hitting only or the Dodgers are not going to make the NLCS."

What happened next was Ohtani's response, delivered in the form of one of the most unhinged stretches of baseball any player has had this year.

The first pitch of his start in San Diego the previous night was a home run hit by Ohtani himself, the pitcher. He then protected the lead by throwing five scoreless innings. His ERA dropped to 0.73.

Since the day Chris said Ohtani should stop pitching, Ohtani is hitting .448 with two home runs, 10 RBI, eight runs scored, and seven walks. As a pitcher in the same window, he has 12 innings, seven hits, 12 strikeouts, no earned runs allowed, and two wins.

Chris arrived at his own pivot.

"You're welcome, Dodger fans," Chris said. "I let the beast accept."

Rich did not buy the framing.

"What did you expect him to say, anything other than that?" Rich said. "Did you expect him to say to the microphone, I was wrong?"

Chris held the line. The first-pitch home run was the part that made the room reorganize. Rich noted the last pitcher to homer in the first inning of a start, before Ohtani last night, was Shohei Ohtani in a playoff game a couple of years earlier. Nobody else competes with him in this category. He is the entire category.

"Just let him cook," Rich said. "That's what you're paying him all that retirement money for."

Chris held the line again. He argued the Dodgers can be their best version without Ohtani on the mound, despite acknowledging that Ohtani's current pitching numbers are nearly impossible to find a replacement for.

Rich asked whether Ohtani is the NL Cy Young favorite right now. The board says no. Paul Skenes is the favorite. Cristopher Sánchez is in the mix. Aaron Nola and Spencer Strider have their backers.

Then Rich pulled up the more telling number. Ohtani is -475 to win NL MVP. The next closest candidate, Kyle Schwarber, sits at 13 to 1. That would be Ohtani's fourth straight MVP since coming to the Dodgers, and his fifth overall when factoring in his American League hardware.

The math, in other words, makes Chris's position basically impossible to defend. The man is hitting like a leadoff MVP and pitching like a Cy Young finalist. The Dodgers have been finding ways to use him in both directions specifically because doing so is the right answer to the question of how to win a third straight World Series.

Chris stood with his take anyway.

"I don't think they need him to be a pitcher to be the best version of themselves," Chris said.

Rich asked whether Chris was still going to die on this particular hill.

"Yes, Rich."

The cast laughed. The room kept the file open. The Dodgers play the Padres again. Ohtani is scheduled to do both.

The promise the cast has now extracted is simple. Every five days, the show is going to replay Chris's original take next to that day's box score. The bit, in other words, has a recurring slot.

Chris, by his own logic, is responsible for the run.