Shohei Ohtani's Setback and How It Affects the NL MVP Race
With just about a month to go in the MLB regular season, we’ve seen some separation in terms of teams contending for the postseason and those who are done. However, the award situation is still extremely fluid in most of the major races. Perhaps the most contentious one is the National League MVP award.
After it seemed a formality that Shohei Ohtani was the odds-on favorite to win a fourth straight MVP and his fifth in six years, things shifted. Ohtani hasn’t pitched since July 3. Meanwhile, Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs had a torrid June and kept hitting. He cut down on strikeouts and increased his walks taken. In addition, he is a member of the 30/30 club with 33 homers and 32 stolen bases. Those pair nicely with 93 runs scored and 83 runs batted in entering Saturday.
As for the latest on Ohtani, we’ve got you covered. Read on for the latest update on his status.
Ohtani’s Knee and The Potential Demise of the Two-Way Player
Ohtani’s pitching work in the first half of the season was stellar. He posted an 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA, a 0.946 WHIP, 26 walks and 95 strikeouts over 85.2 innings in 14 starts. The problem is that he hasn’t pitched in the second half of the year. Ohtani suffered with discomfort in his left knee and that led to the team shutting him down on the mound. In addition, he dealt with some sort of injury to his right biceps. He continued to perform as a designated hitter as a key cog in the Los Angeles lineup, however.
Ohtani threw a bullpen session last week. All of a sudden, Ohtani and Dodgers fans were crowing that their superstar was on the comeback trail. The expectation was that he’d be taking the hill sooner rather than later. Instead, we haven’t seen that come to fruition. His Friday bullpen session was cut short and on Saturday, the news came out that wasn’t what Ohtani MVP ticket holders wanted to hear.
Manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani still isn’t 100% healthy and that both injuries continue to plague him to some extent. He also acknowledged that Ohtani’s body was “sore” and suddenly the question wasn’t when Ohtani may pitch again this season, it was if. As Roberts put it, “If he's not 100% overall body, is it worth giving him a minute to build up or not?"
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We may well not see Ohtani on the mound until the postseason at best, or potentially 2027. The Dodgers can ill afford to lose his bat in the mix for the postseason as he’s the straw that stirs the proverbial drink. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Tarik Skubal, Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan, the Dodgers have plenty of arms to work around his absence.
Meanwhile, in the chase for the NL MVP, it appears that Ohtani isn’t going to be able to add to his pitching numbers. Seeing that he doesn’t play the field, voters have to decide if those 14 starts are enough. After all, otherwise, he’s just a designated hitter and you can find those in beer league softball. In addition, Crow-Armstrong is an elite defender in center field and owns a major edge in terms of stolen bases (32 to 10) entering Saturday. The MVP race likely goes to the wire but Ohtani’s injuries may prove to be the difference.
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Shohei Ohtani's Setback and How It Affects the NL MVP Race
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