\n This season, even though it\u2019s currently the source of some consternation in Southern California, practically proves it.\n <\/p>\n
\n So far this season, Ohtani is a little more than 30% better than league average at the plate. He has just<\/a> seven home runs, six stolen bases, and his .265 batting average would be the lowest of his career over a full season. Although we\u2019re not yet to Memorial Day, it has become concerning enough that the Dodgers are resting him regularly<\/a> amid this slump.\n <\/p>\n \n These are disappointing numbers for a designated hitter. Ohtani has won four MVP awards \u2013 all unanimously \u2013 but if his offensive production doesn\u2019t improve dramatically, he won\u2019t be worthy of a fifth. Except, of course, when you consider that even if he doesn\u2019t leave the yard again this year (highly unlikely), his seven homers will certainly lead the league among pitchers.\n <\/p>\n \n And right now, Ohtani is among the best pitchers in the sport.\n <\/p>\n \n This season, Ohtani is actively and deliberately pursuing a Cy Young-worthy performance on the mound. It seems to be costing him some amount of offensive production. Even a unicorn, apparently, is subject to the same quotidian constraints of space and time and perhaps energy conservation within the universe at large, same as the rest of us. But, if anything, this just underscores how special he really is.\n <\/p>\n Ohtani turns it on \u2013 and off<\/p>\n \n Although globally famous for his utterly unparalleled two-way ability, there were signs even before this season that Ohtani could be the best at hitting or pitching \u2013 but perhaps not both simultaneously.\n <\/p>\n \n His best \u2013 and most demanding \u2013 season as a starter prior to now came in 2022<\/a>, when he had a 2.33 ERA over 166 innings for the Los Angeles Angels. He finished fourth in Cy Young voting that year, but hit just \u2013\u201cjust\u201d \u2013 34 home runs (good for 11th-best in baseball) and produced an all-around offensive profile 42% better than league average (14th best among qualified hitters).\n <\/p>\n \n Ohtani had just \u2013 again, \u201cjust\u201d \u2013 one MVP at that point, had yet to demonstrate the peak of his prowess offensively, and the novelty of doing both at the big-league level was still potent. In other words, we weren\u2019t yet spoiled with expecting him to be two of the best athletes on the planet in one person. In retrospect, though, it certainly seems that pitching success that season cost him something at the plate.\n <\/p>\n \n In 2024, unable to pitch during his return from Tommy John surgery, Ohtani\u2019s offense reached a new level \u2013 for himself and in baseball history. In his first season with the Dodgers \u2013 and en route to his first World Series ring \u2013 Ohtani became the first ever member of the 50\/50 club: 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, more than double his previous career high, plus a .310 batting average. The gaudy offensive stats propelled him to the first MVP win by a DH.\n <\/p>\n \n Essentially, when injury limited him to the offensive side of his game, Ohtani arguably did it better than anyone else ever has. Unable to pitch, he simply opted to dedicate more energy to baserunning and \u2013 admittedly aided by the new rules limiting pickoffs \u2013 became an absolute thief, finishing second in MLB in stolen bases that season.\n <\/p>\n \n Before we return to this year, let that sink in. Ohtani had hit 40+ home runs twice previously in his career. To clear the 50-homer benchmark would have been a worthy goal for a season spent focusing exclusively on offense. But he understood, or at least hoped, that he could do more than play up his power; he had an entire starting pitcher\u2019s workload to spare and spent it on speed. He chased the steals<\/a> intentionally and that intent translated to results. Ohtani wanted to be better at something and then he just was.\n <\/p>\n \n And now he\u2019s doing it again.\n <\/p>\n \n In addition to the four MVP awards, Ohtani has enough accolades that he could let Decoy the dog<\/a> bury a few in the backyard and hardly miss them. He\u2019s won Rookie of the Year and four Silver Sluggers. He\u2019s been a World Series champion twice and a World Baseball Classic hero for his home country, authoring perhaps the single most exciting moment in baseball\u2019s history<\/a> to secure Japan\u2019s WBC gold medal. He\u2019s a five-time All-Star and a two-time Major League Player of the Year (which is an award I just learned exists and now think he deserves to have more of).\n <\/p>\n \n He has not, however, won a Cy Young award.\n <\/p>\n \n It was no secret heading into this season<\/a>, now more than two years removed from his second elbow surgery, that Ohtani aspired to be the league\u2019s best pitcher.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cHe seems like he\u2019s on a mission, pitching-wise,\u201d Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told ESPN in spring training. \u201cWhenever we\u2019ve seen him on a mission, good things happen.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s hardly worth calling that prognosis prescient when it comes to Ohtani and yet, of course, by now we know it was. Through the first 30% of the season, Ohtani the Pitcher has been practically unhittable \u2013 opposing players are batting just .161 against him \u2013 and Ohtani the Hitter seems to be suffering as a result.\n <\/p>\n \n His bat speed is down this season<\/a>. It\u2019s still above league average but a full mile an hour slower than last season, and his percentage of fast swings is way down. It\u2019s the swing profile of someone who is busier than every other athlete and not actually superhuman. Someone who is, in a word, tired.\n <\/p>\n \n Fatigue is a real concern over the course of a baseball season, especially for a team that reasonably plans to play deep into October. The Dodgers started keeping Ohtani out of the lineup<\/a> on days that he pitched. Last week, they added an extra day of rest.\n <\/p>\n \n And over the weekend, he exploded offensively. He was 6-for-13 with seven RBIs as the Dodgers swept his former club in Anaheim.\n <\/p>\n![\"Ohtani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ap26126108824090.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Shohei](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-2173226625.jpg\")
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![\"Ohtani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ap26137775024530.jpg\")
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