Shohei Ohtani had what you’d call a rough night on the mound against Toronto this week. The smell of fresh cut grass and damp dugout wood was thick in the air, but the command just wasn’t there for him. He was fighting his delivery—you could see the frustration in the way he walked back to the rubber. But here’s the kicker: even when he’s off, he’s still better than almost anyone else. He gritted his way through six innings, surrendered only one unearned run, and basically kept the Blue Jays at bay. It wasn’t pretty, or maybe it was just a different kind of pretty, if that makes sense.
Manager Dave Roberts said it best—the compete is always there. The guy has a 0.00 ERA through 12 innings of work. That’s insane. And that’s while acting as the primary DH. He’s not just a pitcher or a hitter; he’s essentially doing two jobs at an elite level, even when he feels like he’s grinding. Actually, the command issues might have been a blip, because the numbers aren’t lying.
Then there’s the on-base streak. On Friday, Ohtani officially passed Ichiro Suzuki’s 2009 record for the longest active on-base streak by a Japanese-born player, hitting 44 games. He didn’t stop there, either. He pushed it to 45 games with a leadoff homer on Saturday against the Rangers. It’s his fourth of the year. The consistency is almost boring at this point, but in a good way.
According to Misryoum, he’s also holding the longest active streak of consecutive innings pitched without giving up an earned run—28.2 innings to be exact. It’s the kind of start that puts you in the company of legends like Fernando Valenzuela. That’s a long list of stats, I know, but it’s hard to ignore when he’s chasing down his first Cy Young award.
Ohtani admits the start of the season is usually a bit of a slow burn for him. He’s looking toward May to really hit his stride. If he thinks he’s just starting to warm up, then the rest of the National League should probably be a little worried—or actually, a lot worried. He’s got his sights set on that Cy Young, and honestly, with the way he’s navigating these games, who would bet against him?
He’s got four MVPs and two rings already. The Cy Young is really the only thing left on the list, right? Maybe he’ll get it, maybe not, but watching him try is going to be the story of the summer. He’s up next against the Mets, and I’m curious to see if he’s finally got that delivery dialed in. We’ll see.