LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani was strolling toward the far end of theLos Angeles Dodgers‘ dugout in the middle of Tuesday’s fifth inning, collecting his thoughts after another scoreless frame, when fear swept over him — he was told he would be leading off the bottom half, which meant he needed to hurry.
Ohtani scrambled to the other end of the dugout railing, raced to put on his batting equipment, scurried toward the batter’s box and drew a walk. It was his second of three times reaching base in the Dodgers’ 4-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians, to go along with the six scoreless innings he threw on the mound. And with that, Ohtani’s two-way season — his first full one in three years — officially began.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “If he’s able to do it the whole year, it’s just a huge boost to our pitching staff, which we already feel really good about. I expect nothing short of almost a Cy Young out of him.”
Ohtani wants a Cy Young, the one major award that has eluded him, many of his teammates and coaches have said for several weeks. And he’s acting like it.
Ohtani didn’t pitch in his first spring training game until there were just eight games remaining until Opening Day, and yet he was fully stretched out by the time the regular season began. He battled the rain in his first official pitching start of 2026, and yet he gave up just one hit, scattered three walks and struck out six batters, recording his first win of the season.
“It’s just good to be able to start the game, go through six under a limited pitch count even in this condition,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “I’m going to charge it to experience.”
Dating to last season, when he worked his way back from a second elbow surgery to join the Dodgers’ rotation down the stretch, Ohtani has not allowed an earned run in 23 consecutive innings during the regular season, the second-longest streak of his career.
On Tuesday, he relied heavily on his seldom-used curveball, throwing it 21 times. But he also got five whiffs on his splitter and topped out at 99.2 mph with his fastball.
Ohtani retired the first seven hitters in order and did not allow his first hit until the fourth inning.
In the fifth, he plunked the Guardians’ No. 9 hitter, Angel Martinez, with a fastball directly to his left knee but came back to retire Steven Kwan on a flyout. After he allowed a two-out walk to Kyle Manzardo in the sixth, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had the grounds crew lay new dirt on the slope of a mound that had become muddy. Ohtani took the opportunity to clean out his spikes, then came back to strike out Rhys Hoskins on a low sweeper, ending his outing at 87 pitches.
Said Roberts: “He’s just unflappable.”
Ohtani did not pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, but he was aggressive with his pitching progression early in spring training and was able to complete a four-inning simulated game during the team’s workout in Miami on March 12. Six days later, under triple-digit heat in Arizona, he threw 4 scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants. Six days after that, in an exhibition contest from Dodger Stadium, he struck out 11 Los Angeles Angels hitters in his first four innings, a clear sign that he was ready to be a full-fledged starting pitcher from the outset.
The Dodgers believe Ohtani will be better on the mound this year, simply through the experience of reacclimating to a two-way role in the final months of the 2025 season. Ohtani himself believes he’s “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,” Ohtani said. “But compared to last season, I felt more loose and easy.”
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