Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong Wants to 'Dethrone' Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani

Los Angeles Dodgers star designated hitter and starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani has been defying what it means to play baseball in the 21st century since he joined Major League Baseball in 2018.

Ohtani is two elite baseball players wrapped in one.

His performance at the plate and as a baserunner makes him one of the most elite offensive weapons in baseball, as evidenced by his 2024 MVP award won in a season where he never took the mound.

As a pitcher, Ohtani is in the midst of his best season yet — albeit now in question due to injury — tossing a 1.79 ERA with an 8-2 record as a starter.

With four MVP awards under his belt in his first eight seasons in the major leagues and another likely on the way for season No. 9, there are no indications that there's any growing Ohtani fatigue among the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Ohtani's wins are the National League's losses, though, as other stars in the league are essentially competing for runner-up for the MVP award in 2026.

FanDuel Sportsbook has an implied probability of 93.8% for Ohtani's fifth MVP award, with Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong holding the second-shortest odds at +650.

Crow Armstrong, who's made headlines with his comments attacking Dodger fans, knows it's an uphill battle to overtake Ohtani.

“I would love to dethrone him," Crow-Armstrong said to reporters, “but I don’t know how you do it unless I go to a pitching lab in the offseason. I’ll go be a closer or something and see how that helps my odds."

Crow-Armstrong is in the midst of a dominant season himself, batting .284/.379/.519 with 21 home runs and 53 RBIs. He's also one of the best defenders in MLB, ranking in the 100th percentile in Outs Above Average with 17 and Fielding Run Value (18).

However, the fourth-year player admitted that it might be impossible to best Ohtani for the MVP award as long as he's a productive two-way player.

“But, nah, that guy’s a freak. So maybe once he stops being a little freaky [I can win]," Crow-Armstrong said.

Ohtani's two-way capabilities will be limited going forward this season, as he has been removed from the starting rotation indefinitely as he recovers from a lingering knee injury.

That was some aggressive base running from Shohei Ohtani, who took a big step directly on first base and jammed his bad left knee into it.

Ohtani seems to be OK in the dugout, but the Dodgers likely don't want to see him running so hard on his bad knee. pic.twitter.com/iZdGSz4b3o
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) July 20, 2026

“I would say that it’s going to be some time,” Roberts said Sunday morning. “It’s not going to be a day-to-day thing.”

Ohtani hasn't pitched since July 3, and it appears that he will miss multiple starts after getting a knee injection over the All-Star break. Ohtani revealed last week that he believes his pitching mechanics might be playing a role in his injury.

Shohei Ohtani won't be pitching for the foreseeable future.

His hitting isn't going anywhere.

Ohtani gets the Dodgers on the board against Cam Schlittler with an RBI double and LA leads 1-0 over the Yankees.

He hit it 111.1 mph off the bat. pic.twitter.com/05nduZIo5q
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) July 19, 2026

In the Dodgers' first series after the All-Star break, Ohtani went 3-for-13 at the plate with two RBIs. The Dodgers won two of three against the New York Yankees, and start a three-game series in Philadelphia on Monday.

Add us as a preferred source on Google