Shohei Ohtani’s Cy Young Push Is Real: Dodgers Star Holding 0.73 ERA Through 8 Starts
Shohei Ohtani is doing the impossible again. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar has posted a 0.73 ERA through his first eight starts of the 2026 season, and the Cy Young conversation has officially moved from theoretical to immediate.
The numbers do not look real. A 0.73 ERA in eight starts at the Major League level is the kind of stretch you usually only see from a closer on a hot streak. Ohtani is doing it as a starter, going multiple innings per outing, and pairing the pitching dominance with the kind of offensive production that has defined his entire career.
The pitching debut against the Guardians earlier this season set the tone. Ohtani worked six scoreless innings on 87 pitches, allowed just one hit, walked three, and struck out six. The fastball was sitting in the upper 90s. The splitter was diving below bats. The slider was the same wipe-out pitch it always was. He showed no rust from the Tommy John recovery and looked like a pitcher who had been on a mound the whole time.
The latest start, a Wednesday outing against the San Diego Padres, was the signature moment of the run so far. Ohtani led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run off Yu Darvish, then went out and threw five shutout innings against a Padres lineup that had been swinging it well. The Dodger Stadium crowd was the loudest it has been all season.
The Dodgers managed his rotation spot carefully early in the year, slotting him into matchups that gave him the best chance to succeed without overworking the arm. The team has been transparent that the goal is to keep Ohtani healthy through the full season, even if that means skipping a start here and there. The strategy is working. He has had no recurrence of the elbow issues, no setback in the shoulder, and no signs of fatigue.
The pitching changes that Dave Roberts and the coaching staff have made are a major reason for the breakout. Ohtani is throwing his splitter at a higher rate. The slider has more depth than it had in his Angels days. The fastball command has been tightened up. The combination has made him almost impossible to time as a hitter, which is why the strikeout numbers are climbing.
The Cy Young race in the National League is loaded. Paul Skenes is going to be in the conversation again. Zack Wheeler has been his usual self. The Braves rotation has multiple candidates. Ohtani is not the only name that voters will weigh, but if he keeps anywhere close to this pace, he becomes the front-runner by default.
The two-way storyline cannot be ignored. Ohtani is still hitting at an MVP level, with a slash line that places him among the top hitters in the National League. The combination of being the best pitcher in the league and one of the best hitters in the league is the kind of dual achievement that has not existed in baseball history at this level. Babe Ruth comparisons get thrown around. They are fair.
The Dodgers as a team have benefited in every direction. Having an MVP candidate hitter who is also a Cy Young candidate pitcher gives the roster a level of flexibility that no other team in the sport has. Roberts can build his lineup around Ohtani’s dual role. The rotation gets the boost it needed. The lineup gets the bat it needs.
The postseason implications are massive. The Dodgers are once again the favorites to come out of the National League, and Ohtani as a healthy, dominant two-way player in October is the kind of variable that decides series. Opposing teams have to game plan for him as a starter and as a hitter, which is a tactical headache that nobody has had to face in the modern era.
The Cy Young is on the table. The MVP is on the table. The third title for the Dodgers in five years is on the table. Ohtani is the engine, and the engine is operating at a level that the sport may never see again.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
