Shohei Ohtani shows CY Young form in spring finale

LOS ANGELES — On a cool Tuesday night at Chavez Ravine, the final tune-up of spring training didn’t feel like a tune-up at all. It felt like a statement—one authored emphatically by Shohei Ohtani.

Even in a 3–0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani’s outing carried far more weight than the final score. This was about readiness, dominance—and perhaps the early shaping of a Cy Young campaign.

From the jump, there was no easing in. Ohtani opened his night by striking out Zach Neto on a 95 mph sinker, then overpowered Mike Trout with a 97 mph fastball up and in. Two batters, two strikeouts. Message sent.

The first inning was efficient. The second inning? That’s where the edge showed.

11 strikeouts from Shohei! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/slDz2hOF4q

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 25, 2026

After allowing a leadoff single to Jorge Soler and issuing a walk to Yohan Moncada, Ohtani found himself in his only real jam of the night—runners on first and second, no outs. What followed wasn’t just damage control. It was dominance.

Jo Adell chased a curveball in the dirt. Josh Lowe swung through 98 at the letters. Travis d’Arnaud followed with a helpless swing at another breaking ball. Three hitters, three strikeouts, inning over.

Through two innings, Ohtani had five strikeouts. Through three, it was eight.

And it wasn’t just the volume—it was the variety. Fastballs at 97. Sinkers with late movement. Curveballs and sweepers that kept hitters guessing. This wasn’t a pitcher searching for feel. This was a pitcher executing a plan.

“The intensity was there, focus was there and execution was there,” said manager Dave Roberts postgame. “He’s ready to go.”

By the time Ohtani struck out Neto for the second time and got Trout again—this time on an 84 mph sweeper—to end the third inning, Chavez Ravine had fully shifted into regular-season energy. Eight strikeouts through three innings will do that.

He wasn’t done.

A walk to Nolan Schanuel opened the fourth, but it hardly mattered. Soler, Jeimer Candelario and Adell all went down swinging, pushing Ohtani’s strikeout total to 11 through four innings. Eleven of the first 13 outs he recorded came via strikeout.

“Today he had his sinker working, curveball working,” Roberts said. “Just shows confidence he has a different way to attack guys to get ahead and put guys away.”

That confidence—and the arsenal behind it—is exactly why the Cy Young conversation is already beginning.

Because this version of Ohtani isn’t rehabbing. He isn’t ramping up midseason. For the first time as a Dodger, he enters a year without restrictions tied to recovery. What we saw Tuesday was not a step forward. It was a continuation.

The fifth inning, however, was the reminder of the balancing act ahead. Two leadoff singles from Lowe and d’Arnaud, followed by an RBI single from Oswald Peraza, brought home the game’s first run—and brought Ohtani’s night to an end at 86 pitches. The Dodgers had hoped he’d reach the sixth inning, but the strikeouts—11 of them—drove the pitch count up.

His final line: 4 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 11 strikeouts.

And yet, somehow, it still felt dominant. That readiness now leads directly into the biggest question hovering over Ohtani’s season: can he realistically chase a Cy Young Award while continuing to be one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball?

Roberts didn’t hesitate.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “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 belief inside the organization is clear. The challenge is equally obvious.

Managing Ohtani isn’t like managing any other pitcher. Last season, his workload was carefully built up—starting with one-inning outings in July before gradually increasing. There was less pressure then, less expectation to carry both sides of the game simultaneously.

This year is different.

“Once he gets going, managing him to win the game but also being mindful of the workload he’s done and what he’s capable of,” Roberts said. “There has to be some responsibility as far as how we manage him.”

That responsibility could directly impact Ohtani’s Cy Young case. Fewer innings. Extra rest. Potential limitations on pitch counts early in the season.

“There’s more of a tax to throw 75 pitches than throwing one inning,” Roberts said. “But I do feel that he’s strong, he’s conditioned to do it, mentally and physically.”

The Dodgers are already weighing how to handle Ohtani on days he pitches—specifically, whether his bat should remain in the lineup.

“Not right now,” Roberts said when asked if Ohtani might skip hitting on pitching days. “He really loves to hit. Until we see or learn otherwise, if it’s a compromise at all, if ever, then I think we kind of move forward.”

That love for hitting is part of what makes Ohtani singular. It’s also what could complicate an awards chase traditionally built on pitching volume. But if Tuesday night proved anything, it’s this: Ohtani doesn’t need traditional volume to produce extraordinary results.

He struck out 11 hitters in four innings. He overpowered lineups with multiple weapons. He escaped trouble without flinching. And he did it all with a level of focus that looked far more like October than late March.

If he can carry even a version of that into the regular season—while staying on the mound consistently—he won’t just enter the Cy Young conversation. He might take control of it.

As the Dodgers now turn toward Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the final impression of spring is unmistakable. Ohtani isn’t preparing for the season anymore. He’s preparing to dominate on the quest to a three-peat.