Compare Dodson and McKay to the only other true two-way player sample we have and the Rays usage philosophy stands out. Shohei Ohtani started ten games in 2018. Not once did Ohtani play in the field the day before his start or the day after. He threw roughly 85 pitches per outing, with instances above or near 100 total pitches, but the Angels usage of Ohtani and the Rays usage of Dodson and McKay suggest different beliefs for a similar kind of player.

Did the Rays use McKay and Dodson with the intention of keeping their timing at the plate from experiencing a three-game layoff? If so, then why didn’t this affect a player like Ohtani, who routinely took multiple days off and still posted a 149 wRC+ from Opening Day until his June disabled list stint? And how much information can be gleaned from the fatigue data the Rays presumably collected on Dodson and McKay player through the season? Is Dodson’s lower pitch count and higher frequency of positional play preferred over McKay’s longer outings? Is that why they axed McKay’s first-base duties? Or is the key merely how each player is cared for and what they do on off days?

Dodson and McKay making it to the major leagues as two-way players is unlikely. In the event it happens, there was a radical idea present to optimize matchups recently killed by the Rays’ announcement. Because Dodson and McKay are right-handed and left-handed pitchers respectively, a universe existed where the Dodson and McKay rotated from a spot in the field to the mound based on the handedness of an opposing hitter (as mentioned by Fangraphs). The advantages of on-field musical chairs would have been numerous, but flexibility is still a potential advantage.

Within this flexibility are even more questions. What exactly do the Rays do with the additional room created by having a player fill multiple roles? Nineteen pitchers threw more than 10 innings in relief for the Rays last season. Pushing Dodson to 40-50 innings replaces a player like reliever Jaleen Beeks, who threw an ineffective 44 ⅓ innings in 2018. If Dodson contributes 350 plate appearances on top of his innings, he contributes the value of both Denard Span and Johnny Field, outfielders for the Rays last season (Rays acquired Span in trade, he played only 43 games with the team). The combined production of Beeks, Span and Field equaled around .5 WAR in 2018. Even if Dodson is a replacement-level player at the major league level, his mediocrity would allow the Rays to utilize spots on their roster for more relievers or other utility position players.