Shohei Ohtani's banner Dodgers season will prove he's the greatest baseball player ever

Shohei Ohtani is always doing something that's never been done before. It feels like announcers, the media, and fans have all collectively phased out asking anything like "What can't this guy do?" Because no matter how facetiously or exaggeratedly we mean it, no one actually has an answer.

Ohtani is so good that it's almost been easy to become desensitized to it. Sure, sometimes the "records" he breaks are obscure and ultimately inconsequential, but even when he's pitching six scoreless innings and is having a multi-hit night at the plate in a single game, it's somehow easy to forget how singular it is.

But his 2026 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers could be his greatest ever. Maybe the greatest ever.

Through 60 games at the plate, Ohtani's .939 OPS leads qualified National League hitters. His 0.74 ERA is the lowest of any pitcher in baseball with a minimum of 60 innings pitched.

As good as he's been, he's yet to put up a single season that's truly great on both sides of the ball. The 2022 campaign was his best on the mound but one of his worst at the plate; 2024 was his best at the plate, but he didn't pitch at all. Is 2026 the year he may be able to put it all together?

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is headed toward the greatest season baseball has ever seen

The American League MVP race was recently thrown into disarray with Aaron Judge's rib injury, but there has never been a question as to who has it in the bag on the National League side. It's Ohtani's to lose.

But even winning his fourth consecutive MVP award would be a "been there, done that" for Ohtani. He's done it as a two-way player and as a pure DH, and maybe that's why winning the Cy Young seems to mean so much to him. His offense-only year kind of led his pitching to be seen as more of a side hustle.

This year, he's proving — or rather reminding everyone — that it's not a side hustle. It's not even 50% of his game. It's 100% on top of 100%.

The key to a true greatest season is the pitching. We already know what Ohtani can do offensively (sometimes it seems like he's just on autopilot), but he has ground to cover on the mound. Dodgers fans have zero doubt he'll be able to do it; we're just waiting for everyone else to finally get up to speed.

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