Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Off to One of Best Pitching Starts in MLB History

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani continued his incredible season on the mound on Wednesday in a series-clinching win over the San Diego Padres.

Ohtani threw five shutout innings against San Diego, allowing just three runs and striking out four.

His performance on the mound was another special one, and it saw his ERA for the year drop to 0.73. In doing so, Ohtani made it onto a list of pitchers who have put together the best ERAs in the Live Ball ERA through the first eight starts of a season.

Ohtani's ERA of 0.73 comes in ranked No. 6, and he is the first member of the Dodgers to put up these numbers since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.

Best ERAs in the Live Ball Era (since 1920) through the first eight starts to begin a season:
1. Fernando Valenzuela — 0.50 (1981)
2, Mike Norris — 0.52 (1980)
3. Zack Greinke — 0.60 (2009)
4. Al Benton — 0.70 (1945)
5 Jacob deGrom — 0.71 (2021)
6. Shohei Ohtani — 0.73 (2026)
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) May 21, 2026

Entering the season, Ohtani made it clear to the organization that he wanted to go after the Cy Young award in the National League. This is one major award that Ohtani hasn't been able to win yet, and at least so far, he has been doing everything he can to win.

While there is still a lot of season left to go, Ohtani's early performance has put him directly into the conversation for the honor. But the big talking point around his chances of winning has to do with the number of innings pitched, compared to other guys in the league.

Since Ohtani is only pitching once a week, he won't take down as many innings as pitchers in a normal five-man rotation. But if the two-way superstar were to continue dominating on the mound as he has, the number of innings may not matter in the end.

The Dodgers have been very supportive of this goal from Ohtani, but they will also try to save him from himself. The 2026 season is the first time that Ohtani has been fully healthy since 2023, so the organization is looking to keep him that way.

Shohei Ohtani in 2026:

5 IP, 0 ER, 4 K vs SD
7 IP, 0 ER, 8 K vs SF (didn't hit)
7 IP, 2 ER, 8 K vs HOU (didn’t hit)
6 IP, 1 ER, 9 K vs MIA (didn't hit)
6 IP, 0 ER, 7 K vs SF
6 IP, 1 ER, 10 K vs NYM (didn't hit)
6 IP, 0 ER, 2 K vs TOR
6 IP, 0 ER, 6 K vs CLE

He has a 0.73 ERA. pic.twitter.com/5eGC3q0cwp
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) May 21, 2026

Los Angeles has already started to sit him from the lineup during games that he pitches in, while also giving him extra days off in between starts.

This is one way for the team to make sure that his workload doesn't overwhelm him, and that he can stay on the field for the entire season.

Regardless of his work in the lineup, though, Ohtani is off to one of the best starts on the mound MLB has ever seen. If he keep this up, it's hard to imagine anything stopping him from getting that elusive Cy Young award.

Add us as a preferred source on Google