Shohei Ohtani Picks Which World Series Win was 'Harder'

Shohei Ohtani's first two seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers have been nothing short of unrivaled success on an individual level and for the team.

In 2024, Ohtani established the 50-50 club, unanimously won the National League MVP Award, and captured a World Series title in his first time reaching the postseason.

He followed that up with a return to pitching in 2025, made history with another unanimous MVP Award, and helped lead the Dodgers to a second consecutive World Series win.

When asked to reflect on the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Ohtani said winning the World Series last year was more challenging because of expectations the Dodgers faced, per Tom Llamas and Allan Smith of NBC News.

“So the first year, my first World Series, you know, I had never experienced the postseason at all,” said Ohtani, who started his major-league career with the Los Angeles Angels. “So, like, just to be able to experience [the] postseason, get to the World Series and win it was obviously very special. But this second year was, it was a lot harder, you know, obviously a lot more pressure that was put on the team.”

The Dodgers were a heavy World Series favorite in both seasons, and needed to overcome a variety of challenges in each playoff run. Ohtani's first postseason appearance ended with the superstar limited after a left shoulder subluxation in Game 2 of the World Series.

Last October, he was part of a strong showing by Dodgers starting pitchers, and there was some belief that began to affect Ohtani's hitting. He emphatically quieted those concerns with a historic performance in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

In the World Series, Ohtani hit safely in five of seven games. He also started Game 7 as a pitcher on just three days of rest.

Shohei Ohtani's goal for 2026

After a normal offseason in which he did not to worry about rehabbing from surgery, Ohtani is entering a full year of pitching with plenty of expectations.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes Ohtani is capable of improving on the mound compared to last year and reasoned it could result in becoming the first Japanese pitcher to win the Cy Young Award.

But to the 31-year-old, another focus is taking precedent.

"If the end result is getting a Cy Young, that's great," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton this spring.

"Getting a Cy Young means being able to throw more innings and pitch throughout the whole season, so if that's the end result, that's a good sign for me. What I'm more focused on is just being healthy the whole year."