Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani capped off another remarkable season with the perfect Hollywood ending: By taking home the National League’s Most Valuable Player award.
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The 2025 campaign featured Ohtani’s long-awaited return to the mound as his first season in Dodger blue was solely as the team’s designated hitter.
Ohtani, the hitter, finished the regular season with 55 home runs, 102 RBIs, 20 stolen bases, 146 runs scored and an OPS of 1.014.
Ohtani, the pitcher, made 14 starts, producing a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts across 47 innings in 2025.
The Dodgers have fully capitalized on the Ohtani era in LA, as the franchise has won its eighth and ninth franchise titles within the superstar’s first two seasons. The World Series champions will look to win their 10th franchise title in 2026.
As the Dodgers are already hungry for a three-peat, Ohtani revealed his pitching plan for the upcoming season.
“I do plan on being able to pitch off the mound from the beginning of the season,” Ohtani said through an interpreter after accepting his MVP award. “For me, the biggest thing is being able to stay healthy throughout the whole season and hopefully be able to start and end the season on the mound. The goal is obviously to be healthy for the full year and be able to pitch for the whole year.
“Obviously we might have new additions and some guys might be gone. In any case, I do hope to be able to pitch however many days I need to be out there and just be healthy.”
Ohtani made his Dodgers pitching debut in June against the San Diego Padres. After serving as an opener in his first outing for the Dodgers, Ohtani continued to increase the lengths of his starts with each appearance.
By the postseason, Ohtani was fully ramped up and had no limit on his pitch count. Now, Dodgers fans will get to witness a full season of the two-way star in action.
Is it spring yet? The 2026 season can’t come soon enough.
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Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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One Response
I hope he can be healthy AND PITCH IN 2026 a well. But for me, Ohtani’s hitting is much more important to the Dodgers success than his pitching. He is a very good pitcher but will probably never win the Cy Young Award although he would be a contender for the MVP almost every year he is healthy and can swing the bat. His pitching, no matter how little or how much is always going to augment his hitting which is nonpareil. He will probably pitch more innings than this year than last but I would really hate for some pitching injury to happen which could jeopardize his swinging the bat like he does. Afterall, he is the “UNICORN” of the major leagues…