Somewhat lost amid the panic over Shohei Ohtani’s elbow is the reality of what truly makes the superstar unique.

That’s the thing about two-way players: They can get hurt and still contribute in other ways.

They are like escalators, as Mitch Hedberg once said, which can break only to become stairs.

Even if Ohtani undergoes a second Tommy John surgery — there has been no public decision or public knowledge of the severity of the strain to his UCL — he would return next season as a feared slugger with excellent speed.

This season, Ohtani is hitting despite the strain, which enabled him to put on the kind of singular performance that could be on display all season in Queens next year — if Steve Cohen successfully lures the biggest free agent in baseball history.

Ohtani did not pitch, but he hit so hard he left his mark on Citi Field.

He could not throw, but he could run, so he stole both bases and the show.

If Ohtani did not quite do everything, he managed to do most things as his Angels beat the Mets, 5-3, in front of 35,890 on Saturday.

After the first two nights of a three-day performance, Ohtani has reached base in eight of 10 plate appearances.

He has racked up five walks, scored three times, swiped a pair of bags, driven in a run and cracked two doubles and a triple — though his most viral swing resulted in a foul ball.

During his first at-bat of the night, Ohtani blasted a would-be home run down the right-field line off Carlos Carrasco, but the ball hooked into foul territory.

It bounded off an auxiliary video board and knocked out a bulb, leaving a pane absent from a screen that is primarily used for advertising.

“We’re sending you the bill for that, Shohei” was written on the primary video board.

Ohtani collected himself, stepped back into the box and smoked a 109.6-mph bullet into right-center for a double.

He scored on a Brandon Drury single, but he was only getting started.

An inning later, Ohtani stepped up with Luis Rengifo on first base and damaged a middle-of-the-plate slider from Carrasco. Ohtani hammered it down the right-field line and did not stop running until he slid safely into third with an RBI triple. He now is tied for the major league lead in triples (eight) as well as home runs (44), OPS (1.084) and plenty of pitching categories.

The Mets wisened up in the fourth inning, when Phil Bickford walked Ohtani on five pitches — none even approaching the strike zone.

There were significant boos in a park that was valuing the amazing over the Amazin’.

So Ohtani manufactured a different kind of triple instead.

He got a good jump and stole second with some pain, his stomach absorbing a bounced throw from catcher Omar Narvaez.

Ohtani was doubled over for a short while, got up and then stole third base, upping his steals total to 19 this season.

The Mets finally got Ohtani out in the seventh, when lefty Adam Kolarek induced a fly out that disappointed fans who could no longer watch him run the bases.

The Mets intentionally walked Ohtani in the ninth, which prompted the loudest boos of the night.

Everything that Ohtani, a unicorn unseen since Babe Ruth, is doing is worth watching, even if half of his effectiveness is in jeopardy.

His 2023 season might be the best in baseball history and could be the last act (at least for a while) of this version of Ohtani.

The team that signs Ohtani might not know for sure about his pitching future, but it will be adding a middle-of-the-order bat who is threatening Aaron Judge’s American League home run record.

Ohtani’s next team won’t know about his velocity, but it will have a better idea of how quickly he can reach third base on a triple or nab second base.

Of 532 batters this season, Ohtani is ranked 15th in time from home to first, according to Statcast.

Maybe the Mets did not take in the full Ohtani experience, but half the Sho’ is still something to behold.