Dodgers’ Ohtani eyes ‘being healthy the whole year,’ shot at Cy Young

PHOENIX — More than 450 media members, fans and other curious onlookers lined up Friday morning along one of the back fields of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ sprawling complex to catch a glimpse of Shohei Ohtani playing catch, then migrated to the space next to a nearby bullpen to watch him throw 27 pitches from a mound with notable intensity.

It marked the start of something — of spring training, yes, but more specifically of Ohtani’s return to a full-time two-way role.

Ohtani just completed his first normal, fully healthy offseason since signing with the Dodgers in December 2023. He just returned to the starting pitcher role in his own right, following a second elbow surgery. And soon, he’ll begin juggling pitching and hitting over the course of an entire six-to-seven-month season with a franchise universally lauded for his ability to get the most out of players. So the expectations are absurd, even for him.

And as the two-time defending champion Dodgers conducted their first official workout of 2026, two words dominated the conversation: Cy Young. This is the only major award Ohtani has not won. We asked him if that was a goal.

“If at the end the result is a Cy Young, that’s great,” Ohtani said, according to an interpreter. “Getting a Cy Young means being able to throw more innings and pitching throughout the season, so if that’s the end result, that’s a good sign for me. What I’m focusing on more is just being healthy all year long.”

Between repairs to an ulnar collateral ligament, Ohtani went 34-16 with a 2.84 ERA while with the Los Angeles Angels from 2021 to 2023. In one of those years, 2022, he finished fourth in voting for the American League Cy Young Award.

Last year, his first pitch with the Dodgers, Ohtani officially returned to the mound in mid-June, slowly built up his pitch count and eventually posted a 2.87 ERA in 47 innings, striking out 62 batters and allowing just nine walks. He made four postseason starts, including one on three days’ rest, and posted a much worse 4.43 ERA than the underlying numbers suggested.

Ohtani called playing as a two-way player so deep into the season “a really good experience overall” but said he “felt the effect of it.”

“In that sense,” Ohtani added, “it’s an experience that I intend to hold on to.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was impressed with the command Ohtani showed after what amounted to a nearly 21-month pitching hiatus. He was struck by Ohtani’s knack for breaking down throws, particularly his ability to consistently manipulate them, and hinted at additional upside.

“There’s definitely a lot more in there,” Roberts said. “Whatever expectations I have for him, his are going to exceed them. I think it’s fair to say he expects to be in the Cy Young conversation. But we just want him to be healthy and make a debut. All the numbers and stats will take care of themselves.”

Ohtani, who will hit but not pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, arrived at the Dodgers’ spring training facility in early February and had already held a few bullpen sessions before Camelback Ranch opened to the public. He hopes to start facing hitters as early as next week, when full-squad workouts begin, which appears to put him on track to join the rotation by Opening Day.

Ohtani enters his age-31 season with four MVPs over a five-year span, all unanimous. His first two seasons with the Dodgers, which landed him a highly deferred $700 million contract, saw him charter the club 50/50, win two Silver Slugger awards and become a back-to-back champion. The breadth of his accomplishments and the uniqueness of his talent have led many to already consider him the greatest baseball player of all time, although there is much more to come.

Ohtani, however, keeps his publicly stated goals simple.

“Just being healthy all year round as a pitcher and a hitter,” Ohtani said when asked about his expectations in 2026. “I think it’s good for me, obviously, but also good for the team.”