Shohei Ohtani returned to the mound last summer after making a full recovery from Tommy John surgery and is now slated to resume two-way duties regularly for the first time since signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani has already accomplished a great deal in his MLB career, becoming the first player to join the 50/50 club, as well as winning four MVP Awards, four Silver Sluggers and two World Series championships. However, the one major accolade that has eluded him so far is a Cy Young Award.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts previously said that he could see Ohtani challenging for the National League honor this season, and Clayton Kershaw echoed a similar sentiment during NBC’s Opening Day broadcast.
“It’s his drive,” the longtime Dodgers ace said of Ohtani’s success. “I think to be able to be the best hitter in the world and the best pitcher in the world, or at least in the conversation for both of those, it takes an incredible amount of drive. He never gets deterred from that.
“I’m excited to see a full year of him on the mound as well as at the plate. It would be pretty cool to see a Cy Young, MVP and World Series in one year. There’s a very real possibility he could do that.”
Kershaw recognizes that Ohtani is doing things on the baseball field that may never be seen again and wants to appreciate his contributions to the sport.
“I think as a teammate you take for granted what you see every single day out of Shohei,” Kershaw said. “When you really sit back and look at it, I don’t know if we’re ever going to see another player ever do what he’s doing at the caliber that he’s doing it.”
If Ohtani continues to hit and pitch at an elite level in 2026, he could join Sandy Koufax (1963) and Willie Hernández (1984) as the only players in MLB history to win a Cy Young Award, MVP and World Series title in the same season.
Ohtani would also become the first Japanese-born player to win a Cy Young Award.
Shohei Ohtani prioritizing health over winning Cy Young Award
While winning a Cy Young Award is an achievable goal, Ohtani said that his top priority this season is staying healthy and being available to make starts for the Dodgers.
“If the end result is getting a Cy Young, that’s great,” Ohtani relayed in Spring Training through interpreter Will Ireton. “Getting a Cy Young means just being able to throw more innings and pitch throughout the whole season. So if that’s the end result, that’s a good sign for me. And that’s what I’m more focused on, just being healthy the whole year.”
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