As spring training progressed and its typical optimism prevailed, a preposterous thought began to gain traction:
What if Shohei Ohtani can actually be better?
In other words: What if arguably the most impressive season in baseball history -- one that included a .965 OPS, 46 home runs and 26 stolen bases as a hitter, and a 3.18 ERA, 156 strikeouts and 130 1/3 innings as a pitcher -- was only the beginning?
It's a consideration that might exist only amid the buoyancy that tends to permeate baseball facilities in March, when the season is new, nobody has lost and everybody reports to being in "the best shape of my life.