He's a different person when he's pitching. He's in a zone.
In the long arc of baseball history, certain players arrive not merely to compete but to redefine what the sport believes possible. Shohei Ohtani, pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the spring of 2026, has posted an earned run average of 0.82 through mid-May — a figure that, combined with his four MVP awards, back-to-back World Series rings, and unmatched dual excellence as hitter and pitcher, places him at the threshold of an achievement no player has ever reached: winning MVP honors as both a hitter and a pitcher. The question the game now quietly asks is not whether he belongs among the greats, but whether the record books were ever built to contain him.
- Ohtani's 0.82 ERA through 43 games is so historically low it strains credibility — yet the scoreboard keeps confirming it, most recently in a 4-0 shutout of San Francisco.
- The Cy Young Award is the one major prize missing from a collection that already includes four MVPs, two World Series titles, and a 50-50 season no one else has ever approached.
- Competitors like Paul Skenes (1.98 ERA) and Jacob Misiorowski (14+ strikeouts per nine innings) are pitching at elite levels — but none of them are also among the best hitters in baseball.
- Manager Dave Roberts and teammates alike describe a version of Ohtani on the mound who enters a separate competitive dimension, one that feels less like baseball and more like inevitability.
- With over 73 percent of the season remaining, the race for the Cy Young is wide open — but the weight of history is already bending in one direction.
Shohei Ohtani took the mound at Dodger Stadium on a Wednesday night in May and did what has become almost routine: he made the opposition look helpless. Seven innings, four hits, eight strikeouts, nothing on the scoreboard for San Francisco. When he walked off, his ERA for the season stood at 0.82 — a number so small it barely seems real.
Ohtani's career has become a study in the accumulation of the impossible. Since arriving in Los Angeles before the 2024 season, he has won back-to-back World Series titles, collected four MVP awards, and made five consecutive All-Star teams. In 2024, he became the first player in history to hit more than 50 home runs and steal more than 50 bases in the same season. The following year, he returned to pitching and hit 55 home runs while posting a 2.87 ERA — simultaneously one of the best hitters and one of the best pitchers in baseball. No one else has done this. No one else has come close.
What remained was a single absence from his collection: a Cy Young Award. With his ERA hovering near 0.82 through mid-May, that absence may not last. Manager Dave Roberts described watching Ohtani pitch as witnessing someone enter a different state entirely. Teammate Santiago Espinal, who homered that night to give Los Angeles the lead, put it plainly: 'When he's pitching, everybody expects a Cy Young. When he's hitting, everybody expects an MVP. That's what he showed tonight.'
If Ohtani wins the Cy Young, he would become the first player in baseball history to win MVP honors as both a hitter and a pitcher — a distinction no one in the sport's long history has ever held. The National League has other formidable arms this season, but none of them are also among the game's elite hitters. With nearly three-quarters of the season still ahead, the question is no longer whether Ohtani can win the award. The question is whether the record books can keep pace with him.
Shohei Ohtani took the mound at Dodger Stadium on a Wednesday night in May and did what he has been doing with increasing regularity: he made the opposition look helpless. Seven innings, four hits, eight strikeouts, nothing on the scoreboard for San Francisco. By the time he walked off the field, his earned run average for the season had settled at 0.82—a number so small it barely seems real for a pitcher forty-three games into a season.
Ohtani's career has become a study in the accumulation of the impossible. He arrived in Los Angeles before the 2024 season and immediately won back-to-back World Series championships. He has collected four MVP awards, tying Barry Bonds for the second-most in baseball history, and he is the only player ever to win multiple MVPs across different leagues. He was the 2018 Rookie of the Year. He has made five straight All-Star teams. He has been named to six consecutive All-MLB first teams. He is a four-time Silver Slugger. The list reads less like a resume and more like a record book being rewritten in real time.
In 2024, he became the first player in baseball history to hit more than 50 home runs and steal more than 50 bases in the same season—finishing with 54 homers and 59 steals while batting .310 with a .390 on-base percentage. The following year, he returned to pitching for the first time since 2023 and hit 55 home runs while posting a 2.87 ERA on the mound. He was, simultaneously, one of the best hitters and one of the best pitchers in baseball. No one else has ever done this. No one else has come close.
What remained was a single, glaring absence from his collection: a Cy Young Award. With his ERA hovering near 0.82 through mid-May—with more than 73 percent of the season still ahead—that absence may not last much longer. His manager, Dave Roberts, spoke after the 4-0 victory over the Giants about watching Ohtani pitch. "Like I've said for a long time, he's a different person when he's pitching," Roberts said. "I think he wants to win the Cy Young. I think that that helps the Dodgers, too, in 2026. When he's pitching, I just sort of let him go and he's in a zone."
Ohtani's teammate Santiago Espinal, who homered to give Los Angeles the lead that night, offered his own assessment: "When he's pitching, everybody expects a Cy Young. When he's hitting, everybody expects an MVP and all that stuff. That's what he showed tonight. It's just Cy Young-caliber."
If Ohtani were to win the Cy Young Award, he would become the first player in baseball history to win MVP honors as both a hitter and a pitcher. Eleven pitchers have won both awards in the same season, but none has ever won a second MVP. The achievement would represent yet another chapter in a career that has already rewritten the sport's record books.
The National League has other strong pitchers this season. Paul Skenes, last year's Cy Young winner, has an ERA of 1.98. Christopher Sanchez continues to pitch at an elite level. Jacob Misiorowski has been striking out batters at a rate exceeding fourteen per nine innings. But none of them are simultaneously among the best hitters in baseball. None of them are doing what Ohtani does: operating at an elite level in two positions that typically demand a player's complete focus and energy. It is, by any measure, unprecedented. And with nearly three-quarters of the season remaining, the question is no longer whether he can win the Cy Young. The question is whether baseball's record books can keep up with him.
Citações Notáveis
Like I've said for a long time, he's a different person when he's pitching. I think he wants to win the Cy Young.— Dave Roberts, Dodgers manager
When he's pitching, everybody expects a Cy Young. When he's hitting, everybody expects an MVP. That's what he showed tonight.— Santiago Espinal, Dodgers teammate
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
How do you even measure what Ohtani is doing? Four MVPs, World Series rings, and now he's pitching at a 0.82 ERA. Is there a precedent for this at all?
There really isn't. You can find pitchers who won MVP and Cy Young in the same year—there have been eleven of them. But no one has ever won multiple MVPs and a Cy Young. That's the historic part. He's not just excellent at one thing; he's elite at two things that usually demand everything from a player.
But it's May. The season is barely half over. How seriously should we take a 0.82 ERA right now?
Fair question. Early-season numbers can be misleading. But Ohtani has shown this pattern before—he doesn't have a breakout month and then fade. He sustains excellence. And even if his ERA rises to 2.5 or 3.0 by season's end, he'd still be in the conversation. The point is he's not a curiosity. He's a legitimate Cy Young candidate.
What does it feel like, from inside the clubhouse, to watch someone do this?
His teammate said it best: when he's pitching, you expect a Cy Young. When he's hitting, you expect an MVP. It's become normal to expect historic things from him. That's how far he's pushed the boundaries of what's possible.
If he wins the Cy Young, does that change how we talk about him as a player?
It completes something. Right now he's the best hitter and one of the best pitchers. A Cy Young makes him the only player ever to win MVP as both. That's not just another award. That's a different category of achievement entirely.