04/01/26 02:01:00
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04/01 01:59 CDT Shohei Ohtani's quest for Cy Young Award begins with 6 shutout
innings as Dodgers beat Guardians
Shohei Ohtani's quest for Cy Young Award begins with 6 shutout innings as
Dodgers beat Guardians
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --- Shohei Ohtani got started on his bid to win a Cy Young
Award --- just about the only major prize to elude him --- with six shutout
innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers in his first outing on the mound this
season.
At the plate, the two-way superstar went 1 for 3 with two walks and a strikeout
Tuesday night in a rainy 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
The Dodgers have been waiting to see a full-time, two-way version of Ohtani
since he joined them on a $700 million, 10-year deal before the 2024 season. He
didn't pitch that year while recovering from a second major elbow surgery in
September 2023 while with the Los Angeles Angels.
Last season, the team took a methodical approach to his return to the mound.
Ohtani was 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 47 innings over 14 starts.
His fastball averaged a career-high 98.4 mph.
"Last year, I felt good," Ohtani said through a translator. "But this year I do
feel a lot more loose and easy pitching overall. Looking back at today's outing
specifically, that wasn't necessarily the case. So that's something I want to
work on. But compared to last season I felt more loose and easy."
Ohtani was limited to two spring training starts for the Dodgers because he
played --- but didn't pitch --- for Japan in the World Baseball Classic.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts has noticed Ohtani is more critical of himself
as a pitcher than a hitter.
"He's never going to be satisfied," Roberts said. "There's always something
that he can improve on or get better at and that's what fuels him."
Ohtani has thrown 22 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in the regular season,
dating to Aug. 27, 2025, against Cincinnati --- the longest shutout streak of
his career. He bettered his previous high of 21 2/3 innings set in June 2022
with the Angels.
"If he's able to do it the whole year, that's just a huge boost to our pitching
staff," third baseman Max Muncy said. "I expect nothing short of almost a Cy
Young out of him."
Almost?
"I think he's got enough pressure already," Muncy said, "but it doesn't seem to
faze him at all."
The only hit Ohtani allowed was a two-out double by Rhys Hoskins in the fourth.
The right-hander struck out six and walked three.
He was even successful on his first ABS challenge.
Ohtani retired his first seven batters before walking Gabriel Arias in the
third. With two outs, he walked Steven Kwan to put runners on first and second.
Ohtani had a 1-1 count on CJ Kayfus when he challenged a ball call. It was
overturned, putting Ohtani ahead 1-2 in the count, and he got Kayfus on a
swinging strike with his next pitch to end the third.
Heavy drizzle picked up over Ohtani's last couple of innings. The grounds crew
groomed the front slope of the mound, specifically his landing spot, after he
issued his third walk with two outs in the sixth. He used a metal tool to
dislodge dirt from the bottom of his spikes. Ohtani then retired Hoskins with
one pitch to end the inning.
"He's unflappable," Roberts said.
Offensively, Ohtani has yet to break out in his first five games. The four-time
MVP is batting .167 with no home runs and no RBIs. He had 55 homers in 2025.
He extended his on-base streak to 36 games, tying the longest of his career.
"I've been able to get on base and that's a good thing," Ohtani said. "But on
pitches that I should be making impact I'm not quite able to do that to the
extent that I should be able to. That's the part that I'm not quite happy
about."
Observing Ohtani's work habits on a daily basis has convinced Muncy that his
first love is pitching.
"He's really bought into everything with pitching --- his mechanics, how to
attack hitters. He just focuses on it so much. You can really, really tell he
loves it," Muncy said.
Roberts said Ohtani will get six days' rest before his next start.
"I believe the team should be prioritizing Yoshinobu (Yamamoto), (Tyler)
Glasnow and (Blake) Snell when he's back," Ohtani said. "So I think it's easy
to kind of fit me into that schedule whenever the team feels that's a good
thing. What's most important is that we're all healthy in October."
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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