EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsPHOENIX -- More than 450 media members, fans and other curious onlookers lined up along one of the backfields of the Los Angeles Dodgers' sprawling complex Friday morning to catch a glimpse of Shohei Ohtani playing catch, then migrated to the space beside a nearby bullpen to watch him throw 27 pitches off a mound with noticeable intensity.It marked the start of something -- of spring training, yes, but more notably, of Ohtani's return to a full-time two-way role.Ohtani has just wrapped his first normal, fully healthy offseason since signing with the Dodgers in December 2023. He's coming off a return to full-on starting pitching, in the wake of a second elbow surgery. And soon, he'll begin to juggle pitching and hitting over the course of an entire six- to seven-month season with a franchise universally lauded for its ability to extract the most out of players. The expectations, then, are preposterous, even for him.And as the two-time defending champion Dodgers navigated their first official workout of 2026, two words dominated the conversation: Cy Young. It's the one major award Ohtani has not won. He was asked if it's a goal."If at the end, the result is getting a Cy Young, that's great," Ohtani said, according to an interpreter. "Getting a Cy Young means being able to throw more innings and being able to pitch throughout the whole season, so if that's the end result, that's a good sign for me. What I'm more focused on is just being healthy the whole year."In between repairs of an ulnar collateral ligament, Ohtani went 34-16 with a 2.84 ERA while with the Los Angeles Angels from 2021 to 2023. In one of those years, 2022, he finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting.Last year, his first one pitching with the Dodgers, Ohtani officially returned to the mound in the middle of June, built up his pitch count slowly and ultimately put up a 2.87 ERA in 47 innings, striking out 62 batters and issuing just nine walks. He proceeded to make four postseason starts, including one on three days' rest, and put up a 4.43 ERA that was much worse than what the underlying numbers suggested.Ohtani called performing as a two-way player so deep into the season a "really good experience overall" but said he "did feel the effect of it.""In that sense," Ohtani added, "it's an experience that I plan to hold onto."Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was impressed with the command Ohtani exhibited after what amounted to almost a 21-month pitching hiatus. He was struck by Ohtani's feel for breaking pitches, particularly his ability to constantly manipulate them, and hinted at additional upside."There's certainly a lot more in there," Roberts said. "Regardless of my expectations for him, his are going to exceed those. I think it's fair to say he expects to be in the Cy Young conversation. But we just want him to be healthy and make starts. All the numbers and statistics will take care of themselves."Ohtani, who will hit but not pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, arrived at the Dodgers' spring training facility at the start of February and had already thrown a couple of bullpen sessions before Camelback Ranch opened to the public. He hopes to begin facing hitters as early as next week, when full-squad workouts begin, which seems to put him on a path to join the rotation by Opening Day.Ohtani heads into his age-31 season with four MVPs in a five-year stretch, all of them unanimous. His first two seasons with the Dodgers, who landed him with a highly deferred $700 million contract, have seen him charter the 50/50 club, claim two Silver Slugger awards and become a back-to-back champion. The extent of his accomplishments and the uniqueness of his talent have prompted many to already view him as the greatest baseball player who ever lived, even though so much more might be in front of him.Ohtani, though, is keeping his publicly stated goals simple."Just being healthy the whole year as a pitcher and as a hitter," Ohtani said when asked for his expectations in 2026. "I think that's good for me, obviously, but also good for the team."
