Shohei Ohtani Eyes Cy Young
Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani is pursuing a legitimate run at the Cy Young Award after committing to a more pitching-centric approach in 2026. Reports from camp highlight his dominant stuff and "man on a mission" mentality—a rare feat for a two-way player.
This isn't the first time Shohei Ohtani has been in the Cy Young conversation; he finished fourth in the American League voting in 2022. That season, he posted a 2.33 ERA with 219 strikeouts over 166 innings pitched. Before his 2023 season was cut short by a torn UCL, Ohtani was putting up impressive numbers on the mound, with a 10-5 record and a 3.14 ERA. He had recorded 167 strikeouts in 132 innings and held opposing batters to a meager .184 average. Ohtani is returning from his second major elbow surgery, though the procedure was reportedly different from his first "Tommy John" surgery. While a second such surgery has been linked to performance decline and shortened careers for some pitchers, many have successfully returned to the mound. A significant two-way player winning the Cy Young Award would be a modern-era rarity. Don Newcombe, a pitcher who was also a notable hitter, won the inaugural Cy Young Award in 1956, the same year he was named National League MVP. While Ohtani himself has stated his primary goal is to stay healthy for the entire season as a pitcher and hitter, his manager Dave Roberts believes he has the potential to be in the Cy Young conversation. Early 2026 predictions for the National League Cy Young race also include pitchers like Paul Skenes and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, setting up a potentially competitive field for the award.
