Shohei Ohtani Shows CY Young Form in Spring Finale

LOS ANGELES — The final exhibition of spring training sounded more like a playoff anthem Tuesday night at Chavez Ravine, and the composer was Shohei Ohtani. In a 3–0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, the Dodgers’ two-way star authored a four-inning, 11-strikeout masterpiece that left teammates, opponents, and a sellout crowd convinced the Cy Young race has an early front-runner.

Ohtani wasted no time announcing his intent, blowing a 95-mph sinker past Zach Neto and then surprising Mike Trout with a 97-mph heater up and in for back-to-back strikeouts to open the game. The tone was set: this was no ordinary March tune-up.

The only hiccup arrived in the second. A leadoff single by Jorge Soler and a walk to Yohan Moncada put two on with nobody out. Ohtani responded by snapping off a curveball that Jo Adell chased in the dirt, blowing a 98-mph fastball past Josh Lowe, and burying another breaking ball to freeze Travis d’Arnaud—three hitters, three swings, three strikeouts.

By the end of the third inning, Ohtani had eight punchouts, including a second strikeout of Neto and a Trout whiff on an 84-mph sweeper that had the stadium buzzing with regular-season electricity. He added three more in the fourth, finishing his outing having struck out 11 of the first 13 outs he recorded.

Manager Dave Roberts praised the precision and intent. “The intensity was there, focus was there and execution was there,” Roberts said. “He’s ready to go.”

The fifth inning illustrated the tightrope Ohtani and the Dodgers will navigate all year. Back-to-back singles and an RBI knock from Oswald Peraza pushed Ohtani to 86 pitches and closed his line at 4 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 11 strikeouts—numbers that somehow still felt dominant.

That dominance fuels an emerging question: can a player who is also one of baseball’s most feared hitters realistically chase a Cy Young Award? Roberts answered without hesitation. “Oh yeah. Because of just talent, ability and will. If he does that, he’ll be in the conversation, absolutely, I have no doubt about that.”

The path will require careful management. Ohtani enters 2024 without the post-surgical restrictions that limited him to one-inning cameos last July. Yet the Dodgers plan to monitor pitch counts, consider extra rest, and weigh whether his bat stays in the lineup on days he pitches. For now, Roberts sees no reason to remove the stick from the two-way phenom’s hands. “He really loves to hit. Until we see or learn otherwise … we kind of move forward.”

Tuesday’s performance offered a glimpse of what managed volume can still produce: a varied arsenal of 97-mph heat, darting sinkers, and sharp breaking balls that kept hitters guessing and missing. If that level translates to the regular season—and Ohtani stays on the mound with any consistency—the Cy Young conversation may quickly become his to lose.

As the Dodgers pivot toward Monday’s Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the last image of spring is unmistakable. Ohtani isn’t merely preparing for the season; he’s preparing to own it.