How Shohei Ohtani the pitcher started outpacing Shohei Ohtani the hitter

On that point, here's the current National League WAR leaderboard for pitchers:

As you can see, Ohtani is very much in the mix and within margin-for-error range of the top spot. No, WAR isn't the sole determinant of who wins the Cy Young, but it's a useful proxy for such things. Much, of course, will be determined by what kind of workload Ohtani is permitted as a pitcher this season. The Dodgers, who are going for the elusive three-peat in 2026, famously keep their gears oiled for October/November, and the priority as the season deepens will be keeping Ohtani healthy and in peak form for the playoffs. Let's first note that the standings may not permit the Dodgers the luxury of easing off their core performers during the second half of the season. That's to say, competitive playoff races may demand that Roberts field his best on a near-daily basis all the way through late September.

Second, Roberts and the Dodgers have already begun giving Ohtani a DH "off day" on those occasions when he's the starting pitcher. Here's Roberts again on Ohtani just last week:

"His goal is to make every start, and with that, there has to be some compromise."

Yes, there's a governor in place on Ohtani's usage, but it's Ohtani the hitter who's deferring to Ohtani the pitcher -- all so, in Roberts' own words, he can take every turn on the bump. The Dodgers, thanks to their impressive depth, run a six-man rotation and probably will continue to do so as long as that depth permits. That means every turn would give Ohtani 27 starts or so. That would put Ohtani at something close to a qualifying number of innings, and these days that's enough to clear the workload bar for Cy Young consideration, at least if you're not Mason Miller.

As for the more general drift of Ohtani's hitting and pitching, let's have a closer look at the early trend that may wind up putting a Cy within Ohtani's grasp.

Ohtani the hitter in 2026

Shohei Ohtani

LAD • DH • #17

BA0.252

R21

HR6

RBI13

SB4

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Let's straightaway note that Ohtani is still a highly productive hitter with a 136 OPS+ on the season. In other words, Ohtani's drop-off is far better than most hitters' peaks. That said, it is a drop-off: over the past three full seasons, Ohtani has an OPS+ of 184. If you look at xwOBA, which evaluates a hitter's deserved level of production based on quality of contact, Ohtani has been pretty unlucky this season, and it will be the opposite of shocking if he gets lava hot for a week or so and finds something close to his accustomed level.

Even so, he has experienced broad-based decline at the level of the batted ball. While his average exit velocity, maximum exit velocity, hard-hit rate, expected slugging percentage, and damage on contact remain the envy of almost every other hitter, they've also degraded significantly relative to his pre-2026 standards. The thing about great players is they can still be great even amid decline.

Let's emphasize again that it's early May, and Ohtani is nothing if not still fully capable of, say, a five-homer series, which would change the tenor of this discussion. For now, though, Ohtani the hitter has ceded ground to ...

Ohtani the pitcher in 2026

Shohei Ohtani

LAD • DH • #17

ERA.6

WHIP.87

IP30

BB9

K34

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That's a sparkling ERA, to say the least, and if Ohtani had a qualifying number of innings, he'd lead the majors in that category by a noteworthy margin. That comes to an ERA+ of 688 (!), and it's backed up by an FIP of 1.98 (he had an FIP of 1.90 last season, so such underlying dominance isn't entirely new). He's yet to allow a home run, he's struck out 28.6% of opposing hitters, and he's logged a quality start in all five trips to bump.

From a stuff standpoint, Ohtani still has the elite fastball velocity, and he still has the overstuffed, seven-pitch repertoire. Given what seems to be Ohtani's increased focus on the pitching side of his game, having stuff and command of such a deep mix is enough to afford utter dominance. Ohtani, though, seems to have made some subtle adjustments this season on the mound. For starters, he's added significant movement to his curve and cutter and modestly improved the break on his slider and sinker. As well, Ohtani has adjusted by increasing his use of his splitter and curve while de-emphasizing his slider.

No, Ohtani isn't going to continue running an ERA of 0.60, in part because he's not going to continue running a BABIP of .233. Even so, enough elements are in place to suggest he's capable of a sustained higher tier on the mound. If indeed he is, then Ohtani might pitch and hit his way to World Series glory and individual glory as opposed to, you know, hit and pitch his way to those same things.

It's always something with this guy.