LOS ANGELES — The Cy Young campaign started Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
Already a four-time league MVP, Shohei Ohtani has indicated adding a Cy Young Award to his trophy case is a goal this season. Eleven pitchers in baseball history have won the MVP and Cy Young in the same season (including former Dodger Clayton Kershaw in 2014). None of them did so while being a two-way player.
“It does seem absurd, but I think if anyone can manage the designated hitter role and be as productive as he’s been and still chase that elusive Cy Young for a Japanese pitcher, I think that he can do it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the ambition.
“For him, first and foremost he’s shown that he’s team-driven. But also there’s some individual things that he certainly wants to achieve, which is a good thing.”
No Japanese-born pitcher has won the Cy Young Award in MLB. Yu Darvish came the closest, finishing runner-up in the American League in 2013 (to Max Scherzer) and the National League in 2020 (to Trevor Bauer). Kenta Maeda also finished second in the American League voting with the Minnesota Twins in 2020. Hideo Nomo finished fourth twice with the Dodgers and Yoshinobu Yamamoto finished third last season.
“No. 1 is obviously health and if he’s healthy and making his starts – however many there will be – then I think it’s feasible,” Roberts said. “I do think that we’ve got some pitchers in our rotation that are going to be a part of that conversation all year long. But I think it’s attainable for him for sure.”
The chances of the Dodgers’ starters could be handicapped by the team’s approach to handling their workload. Ohtani has made more than 23 starts and pitched more than 132 innings in a season just once – 2022 with the Angels when he had his only top-five Cy Young finish (he was fourth, well behind Justin Verlander). A pitcher hasn’t won a Cy Young Award making fewer than 28 starts (in a full season) since Kershaw in 2014 – when he made 27. The past 20 Cy winners (discounting the 60-game 2020 season) have averaged 31.55 starts during their award-winning seasons.
Entering the season fully healthy as a pitcher for the first time since 2023, Roberts said Ohtani is clearly ahead of where he was last year when he returned from his second Tommy John surgery.
“Yeah, the feel for the breaking ball is much better,” Roberts said. “I think last year he was trying to introduce a slider with maybe a little bit more depth and just trying to get a handle on that. But now (he has) the ability to strike it, shorten it, to make it get a little bigger, and all the while still having 97, 98 (mph) in the tank when he needs it.
“Fastball command last year was interesting when he commanded really well given his surgery. I think the feel for the breaking ball was a work in progress, but he’s got a pretty good handle on it.”
In Ohtani’s third season with the Dodgers, Roberts said he has learned that he is “very focused, very determined, doesn’t get distracted and when he sets his mind on something he wants to see it happen.” Ohtani “absolutely” wants to be recognized as the best pitcher in the game, Roberts said.
“I think he’s already proven that he’s the best player, you can argue that’s ever played the game, best baseball player in totality,” he said. “I do think that he sees himself as a baseball player, yes. But when he’s pitching he sees himself solely as a pitcher, and he wants to be the best pitcher.”
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The Dodgers will play six games in six days starting Friday. Roberts said the starting rotation will stay in its current order and they will consider “inserting Wrobo (Justin Wrobleski) at some point” to keep all the starters on five days of rest.
UP NEXT
Guardians (RHP Gavin Williams, 0-1, 5.40 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1-0, 3.00 ERA), Wednesday, 5:20 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM