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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani continues to build his case for the NL Cy Young originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The National League Cy Young Award race is shaping up to be one that could come down to the wire. Four different starting pitchers and possibly one reliever are vying for the award, as all four starters have an ERA of under 2.00 (minimum of 50.0 innings) and have at least one strikeout per inning.
According to MLB.com's Thomas Harrigan, since 1967, when the award was first introduced to both leagues, there has never been a tighter race where so many pitchers met so many benchmarks.
Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani is one arm vying to win his first Cy Young Award after collecting every other piece of hardware possible, minus a Gold Glove. Ohtani is coming off another dominant outing on Wednesday, where he tossed six hitless innings and struck out seven against the Colorado Rockies, adding to his Cy Young case.
"Shohei Ohtani made a strong return to the mound last season after spending 2024 solely as a DH, but the Dodgers were careful not to overwork his surgically repaired right arm," wrote Harrigan. "This season, though, Ohtani has been fully unleashed as a pitcher, and he’s been simply magnificent."
Harrigan added: "After throwing six innings of no-hit ball against the Rockies on Wednesday, Ohtani owns a 0.82 ERA with a .147 opponents’ batting average over 55 innings in 2026. Excluding openers, that's tied for the fourth-lowest ERA a pitcher has recorded through nine starts since earned runs became official in 1913. Ohtani doesn’t have enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, but there are no such requirements for Cy Young consideration."
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani has stiff competition to win the Cy Young Award
Given that a handful of other pitchers, including Ohtani, are vying for the Cy Young Award, his dominance as a two-way player could help him beat out the competition. Facing off to thwart Ohtani are Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (1.47 ERA), Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes (2.89), Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale (2.01), Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (1.83) and Cincinnati Reds right-hander Chase Burns (1.96).
More MLB News:Phillies' Cristopher Sanchez found his historical outing 'special'
Ohtani switching his focus to winning a Cy Young has cost him a little at the plate, as his OPS (.882) is under 1.000 for the first time since 2022 (.875) when he was with the Los Angeles Angels. 2022 was the only season in which Ohtani placed in the Cy Young voting, finishing fourth behind former Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah (third), former Chicago White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease (second) and former Houston Astros right-hander Justin Verlander.
The last pitcher to win both the Cy Young Award and the MVP award was Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw in 2014. The future Hall of Famer went 21-3 (led MLB in wins) with a MLB-leading 1.77 ERA, six complete games and 0.857 WHIP.
More MLB News:
- Dodgers' Teoscar Hernandez exits victory over Rockies with concerning injury
- Pirates' Paul Skenes is not the odds-on favorite to win the NL Cy Young
- Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani is primed to win his first Cy Young Award
- The Phillies bench has been another weak part of the roster
- Giants' Rafael Devers needs to put his struggles in 'the rear-view mirror'
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