Shohei Ohtani has a 1.79 ERA, 95 strikeouts, and an 8-2 record at the All-Star break. And he might not even be the frontrunner for the Cy Young Award in his own league. That tells you everything about how ridiculous the National League pitching race has become this season.
The Dodgers are 61-36, best in baseball. They’re chasing a third straight World Series title. None of that pressure seems to matter to them. Ohtani keeps doing the two-way thing that nobody else in modern baseball can pull off. At the plate, he’s hitting .293 with 22 home runs, 58 RBI, and a .953 OPS. That puts him in the top 25 of all four categories. For a guy who also pitches every fifth day, that’s absurd.
But the Cy Young race is something else. Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez has thrown 127.1 innings with 144 strikeouts. Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski has 167 strikeouts in 111 innings. Those are the kind of numbers that win awards. Ohtani, splitting his energy between hitting and pitching, has thrown 85.2 innings. The volume gap matters in a voting race, even if his ERA is better.
Mookie Betts has been Ohtani’s teammate since 2020, when the Dodgers started this dynasty run. He’s direct about what he thinks of Ohtani as a player — calls him the best ever — but he’s also realistic about the Cy Young situation.
“Maybe,” Betts said when asked if Ohtani could win it this year. “With what Sanchez and some of these other guys are doing, it’s kind of hard to ignore that or ignore those guys. But I think he’ll definitely be in the running up there. Those guys have more innings on him, which probably hurts. But I think he’s been pitching great. I mean, he’s the best player ever.”
Betts also talked about what Ohtani looks like on the mound versus at the plate. There’s a difference, even if it’s subtle.
“I don’t know what goes through his mind when he takes the mound. He’s super locked in. I’m assuming he’s trying to win a Cy Young, but he probably tries to do that every year. It’s just when he takes the mound, he’s just a dog. He always has it, but when he’s pitching, it’s a little different.”
Ohtani has four MVP awards. He’s never won a Cy Young. This might be his best shot, but he’s got real competition. The second half will tell the story. If he keeps shoving and the innings add up, it could turn into a real debate. But Sanchez and Misiorowski aren’t going anywhere. Neither is the fact that Ohtani does something no pitcher in the race has to do — also be an elite hitter on his days off the mound.
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