There is no doubt that Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani would like to win the Cy Young Award. He even listed it as a goal back when he was in high school, and this season the Dodgers seem to be leaning into that, giving him more days off from the lineup, particularly around his starts.
As an individual honor, winning the Cy Young would be great for Ohtani. There are a couple of major obstacles in his way, though. The first of those is his innings total, as Thomas Kelson recently explained.
“Ohtani has now thrown 49 innings through eight starts this season,” Kelson wrote. “However, he is still one inning short of qualifying among MLB pitching leaders. To qualify, a pitcher must throw one inning per team game played. The Dodgers have now played 50 games. That means Ohtani would need to throw at least 162 innings by season’s end to qualify among the leaders.”
That lack of innings pitched is in large part because of the unique schedule the Dodgers keep Ohtani on. It’s understandable, given that he’s a two-way player, but it is going to hurt his counting stats, like strikeouts, and makes a comparable ERA with another starting pitcher a little less impressive.
On top of that, the competition is fierce in the NL Cy Young race. Insider Buster Olney shared just how many names there are to keep an eye on social media.
“The NL Cy Young race could be the best ever. Skenes, Ohtani, Sanchez, Misiorowski, Miller, Sale are the headliners… but look at the depth of candidates: Kyle Harrison, Brewers 1.77 ERA Chase Burns, Reds 1.83 ERA Bryce Elder, Braves 1.97 ERA Eduardo Rodriguez, D-Backs, 2.24 ERA Michael King, Padres, 2.31 Michael McGreevy, Cards, 2.40,” Olney wrote.
Regardless of who wins the Cy Young, they’ll need to have an extraordinarily special season in the NL. That still could be Ohtani, but his path isn’t an easy one.
Shohei Ohtani is Having a Phenomenal Season on the Mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers
GettyLos Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani
To this point in late May, Shohei Ohtani has been one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, let alone on the Los Angeles Dodgers. So, it’s not a surprise that the Cy Young has been coming up as a possibility.
In eight games, all of which Ohtani started, he’s thrown 49 innings, while striking out 54, walking 13, giving up 28 hits, and allowing just 4 earned runs. That’s good for a 0.73 ERA, 0.837 WHIP, and 9.9 strikeouts per nine.
Baseball researcher Sarah Langs shared that it is the sixth-lowest ERA through eight starts in the live-ball era. That goes back more than 100 years to 1920. Langs listed the pitchers to do better in that time, and it’s an impressive list, “1981 Fernando Valenzuela: 0.50 1980 Mike Norris: 0.52 2009 Zack Greinke: 0.60 1945 Al Benton: 0.70 2021 Jacob deGrom: 0.71 2026 Shohei Ohtani: 0.73.”
This is where Ohtani has the ability to overcome both that lack of innings pitched and the talented field of competitors. If he can make part of what he’s doing on the mound, like keeping an ERA well below the field, so unignorable, then voters may have to add to his trophy case.
Shohei Ohtani Made History in His Last Start
GettyLos Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani
The Dodgers turned to Shohei Ohtani on the mound in their recent series against the San Diego Padres. There, for the first time in around a month, Ohtani would also hit on a day he pitched.
No time was wasted. On the very first pitch of the game, Ohtani hit a home run. In the process, he made history. He became the first pitcher to record a leadoff home run in a regular season game. Ohtani has already become the first pitcher to do so in a playoff game, doing so in the NLCS a season ago.
That was in a start where Ohtani threw 5.0 innings, shutting down the Padres’ offense. That was even with it not being Ohtani at his sharpest. In the fifth inning, the Padres were able to load the bases, but Ohtani got Fernando Tatis Jr. to ground into a double play. That kept San Diego off the board and helped propel the Dodgers to a win.
After the game, Ohtani would downplay his performance, saying, “The results were good, as you saw, but the process wasn’t great. I do compartmentalize the hitting and pitching portions. At least that’s my intention.”
The Dodgers will certainly give Ohtani plenty of opportunities to improve his process. He’s taking the mound every six or seven days. Given that, he’s expected to be back on the mound when the Dodgers are at home against the Colorado Rockies, though nothing is official.
Dodgers Superstar Shohei Ohtani Has Two Major Obstacles to Winning Cy Young