LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani's return to a full-time two-way role has seen him pitch better than ever, slump like never before and take more days off than he is used to. He is less than two months away from his 32nd birthday, while attempting a full-season two-way role for the first time in four years, and conventional wisdom suggests this would be significantly harder on his body.
"Hard to say, but I do feel young," Ohtani said. "I feel good. At my peak."
On the mound, at least, Ohtani continues to show it.
On Wednesday night, against a San Francisco Giants lineup that seemed to be gathering momentum, Ohtani leaned on his fastball and sweeper and fired seven scoreless innings in a 4-0 victory that snapped the Los Angeles Dodgers' four-game losing streak. His ERA is now only 0.82, the sixth lowest through a pitcher's first seven starts since the wild-card era began in 1994.
Ohtani did that on a night when he did not hit, the third time in four turns through the rotation he was absent from the lineup for a game he started on the mound. In a rare step, Ohtani will also sit for Thursday's series finale, a reaction to the prolonged hitting slump he may or may not have broken out of Tuesday.
"I talked to the team and I'm good with it," Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, said of the time off. "My last at-bat as a hitter yesterday was really good, so I want to continue that momentum whenever I get to hit again."
In his first 10 games this month, Ohtani accumulated just three singles and a double in 36 at-bats. Half of his batted balls were grounders. Toward the end, he chased often. Then came Tuesday, which featured a walk, a single, a hard-hit out and, most notably, an opposite-field home run, ending a 13-game homerless drought. Still, Ohtani, baseball's most productive hitter outside of Aaron Judge over these past three years, has managed only seven home runs and a .796 OPS.
"First and foremost, the fact that I'm not injured, that's a good thing," Ohtani said when asked if he feels more fatigued in a two-way role this time around. "I do want to contribute more offensively. I haven't done so this year, so I'm looking forward to doing that."
As a pitcher, though, Ohtani is trending toward the Cy Young Award he clearly covets.
After a start in which he struck out eight, walked two, scattered four hits and leaned heavily on his fastball and sweeper, Ohtani easily paces the sport in ERA (second in the majors is Cam Schlittler of the New York Yankees at 1.35, second in the National League is Bryce Elder of the Atlanta Braves at 1.81). He also ranks third in WHIP (0.82) and 11th in strikeout percentage (29.2), though 63 NL pitchers have thrown more innings -- a function of the Dodgers deploying a strict six-man rotation.
"He wants to be the best pitcher in baseball," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "And right now, he's doing it."
Ohtani's 0.82 ERA is the second lowest by a Dodgers pitcher through seven starts, behind only Fernando Valenzuela, who had a 0.29 ERA at the start of his transcendent season in 1981. The last time someone had a lower mark at this point in his season was Jacob deGrom (0.80) in 2021. Ohtani said he has good feel for his pitches but also noted how his latest outing ended, with Drew Gilbert flying out near the fence and Willy Adames getting doubled off second base because he miscounted the outs.
"That could have really swayed my ERA," Ohtani said. "So I think there's some luck involved, as well."
Ohtani did not exceed six innings at any point last season, when he returned from a second elbow surgery and did not get fully stretched out until around September. But he has completed seven innings in each of his past two starts. Last week in Houston, he was efficient, requiring 89 pitches to record 21 outs. This week, he went out for his seventh inning with 90 pitches to his ledger and was allowed to work out of trouble. Roberts said that was directly tied to not being in the lineup.
The last time Ohtani hit and pitched from beginning to end was his age-27 season, in 2022.
In an effort to preserve him for a full season, the Dodgers will continue to find time to rest Ohtani. Through that, they hope he finds himself offensively.
"Ideal situation is to be great on both sides of the ball," Ohtani said, "but how I look at it is, if I'm not contributing offensively, then I know I can contribute on the pitching side of things."