Shohei Ohtani's final spring outing cements 2026 Cy Young case, but there's a catch

Has anyone actually checked to make sure that Shohei Ohtani is 100% human? Seriously, have they?

You might think that calling Ohtani a cyborg or wondering if he was engineered specifically to be a perfect baseball-playing specimen is passé ... and then he goes and does something that begs the question once again.

On Tuesday, he pitched his second and final start of spring training against the Angels. He gave up just one run in the fifth before being pulled, and he struck out 11 batters. In four innings.

So, we'll ask again: is he 100% human?

Two more runs were added to Ohtani's ledger when minor league pitcher Antoine Kelly walked in two batters Ohtani allowed on base before he came out of the game, but it doesn't detract from the sheer dominance of that start.

This year, the Dodgers could get their most unadulterated version of two-way player Shohei Ohtani yet, opening him up to a world of possibilities even when you think he's done it all. Ohtani has confessed he prefers pitching to hitting, and winning a Cy Young was literally on his dream board as a kid. A number of experts have already not-so-boldly predicted that he'll pull ahead of teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto and reigning champ Paul Skenes to win it.

There's no doubt Ohtani's talent could make him capable of dethroning even Skenes. The question is whether or not the Dodgers are willing to fully unleash him.

Shohei Ohtani's Cy Young case is up to the Dodgers and how willing they are to let him pitch at full power

Dave Roberts said at the beginning of spring training, "I think it’s fair to say he expects to be in the Cy Young conversation," but he added a caveat, "We just want to be healthy and make starts and all the numbers and statistics will take care of themselves."

The Dodgers might be inclined to bend to their international superstar — if he wants to pitch 28 or more starts, they might let him — but health, and especially pitcher health, is paramount. LA can afford to lose Ohtani as a pitcher, but not as a hitter. The player himself surely knows that, and will given what we know about him, he would follow marching orders.

But let's run a thought experiment.

Ohtani would probably need to pitch around 160 innings, preferably more, to be seriously considered alongside the likes of Yamamoto and Skenes. He's only exceeded 132 once in his career so far, when he pitched 166 with the Angels in 2022. He placed fourth in Cy Young voting that year, when the award ultimately went to Justin Verlander for his 1.75 ERA in 175 innings.

But Verlander himself proved that innings aren't everything. Second- and third-place finishers Dylan Cease and Alek Manoah both pitched more. Sometimes utter excellence just wins out.

If anyone can lean into utter excellence despite team orders, it's Ohtani. He proved on Tuesday that he's more than ready to do as much as they'll let him — the Cy Young would just be a nice bonus.