The value of simultaneous performance
One potential argument in favor of Ohtani (Phillips did not really make it, but he could have) is that while both stars were pitchers and hitters, only Ohtani excelled in both skills over an extended period.
Ruth came up as a pitcher. He was a superb one, compiling a 94-46 career record and 2.28 ERA. But almost all of his wins — and 97.5 percent of his pitching workload — came prior to 1920, when he concentrated on that singular skill.
Ruth really only spent two seasons (1918 and 1919) in a combo role. He was almost strictly a pitcher prior to 1918 and almost strictly an outfielder after 1919.
That fact leaves open an intriguing question. If Ruth had tried over an extended period to be both pitcher and hitter, could he have done so? We can speculate, but we can never know.
In that respect, Ohtani is clearly different. From the moment of his arrival in 2018, Ohtani has largely been a two-way threat. The sole exception was 2019 when arm concerns limited him to duty as a DH/pinch hitter.
In 2018, 2021, and 2022, Ohtani averaged 20 starts on the mound as well as 555 plate appearances. Due in part to the fact that both 1918 and 1919 — his transition seasons — were shortened due to World War I, Ruth never hit both those benchmarks in any single season, much less three. The closest he came was 1918: 19 starts, 382 plate appearances.
Of course Ohtani has one real advantage that was not available to Ruth. That advantage is the creation of the designated hitter rule. Unlike Ruth, Ohtani’s non-pitching contributions are almost entirely limited to the offensive side.
In fact since arriving in the U.S., Ohtani has made only seven appearances in the outfield, those seven coming in 2021. We asked a moment ago whether Ruth could have succeeded over a long term as a true two-way player; in a sense, the same question could be asked of Ohtani today.