We’ve still got about a week until spring training games get underway, but the planning for the

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    I know I haven’t picked him here as my No. 1 pitcher, either, but you’ve also got Ohtani noticeably lower in the rotisserie rankings overall, and since we’re discussing only his pitching contribution here, where would you place him? I’d have him about 12th, but only that low because he won’t match the innings of most (if not all) of the 11 pitchers I’d place ahead of him.

    In roto, though, wouldn’t Ohtani’s pitching line be more valuable because of the better ratios and strikeout rate? I have a hard time wrapping my head around Ohtani falling outside of the top-five overall picks of any draft that keeps him as a singular player — and, again, that’s again answering a different question — because of how well parts of his skill set perfectly fit either format.

    Cockcroft: With Ohtani, I think it’s more about his team’s long-standing pattern of six-man rotations and the use of “Ohtani Sundays.” At least the Angels swayed from both somewhat late last year. These days, isn’t every pitcher a durability worry, since so many now talk about 200-plus IP overall and 40-plus innings increases year-over-year as health concerns?

    I’d say the daily transaction hook in our game greatly boosts Ohtani’s value and, in a points league, he’s a “Wayne Gretzky in 1982” cheat code. Fun Ohtani fact: His 17.6 points-per-game average was fifth-best among pitchers who made at least 10 starts, behind only household names Verlander (20.3), Jacob deGrom (18.9), Scherzer (18.8) and Sandy Alcantara (18.1). Ohtani was also sixth in ERA, 12th in WHIP, second in strikeout rate and tied for seventh in total wins (wow, on that team!), which addresses his roto bonafides.

    I wonder if we (and this is an industry “we,” even) vastly underrate his potential impact, clinging too hard to his injury absences of 2019-20, which were really all tied to his recovery from Tommy John surgery. It’s at least a question we must all ask ourselves at that point in the draft.

    Karabell: I agree that we need to move past labeling Ohtani as an injury risk. The truth is, in our new game, the potential superstars are more valuable than ever — if that’s even possible — because active rosters are smaller. Ohtani is one of the definite stars in baseball and building around him, regardless of format, seems rather wise. Just as it once was with Gretzky.