Ohtani Posts MLB-Best 0.82 ERA After Seven Scoreless Innings vs. Giants

Shohei Ohtani tossed seven scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, lowering his MLB-leading earned run average to 0.82.

The Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star has allowed just four earned runs in 44 innings this season. Half of those runs came earlier this month against the Houston Astros. Ohtani leads the majors in ERA.

Ohtani's season at the plate has fallen short of his standards. He carries a .240 average and .796 OPS, his lowest full-season marks outside the truncated 2020 campaign. He posted a lifetime .951 OPS and topped 1.000 OPS in each of the previous three years, including 54 and 55 home runs in the last two seasons.

The Dodgers won 4-0 over their NL West rivals. "The ideal situation is to be great on both sides of the ball," Ohtani said, via The Athletic. "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 and vice versa. So I take it as that."

Manager Dave Roberts said, "He wants to be the best pitcher in baseball, and right now, he’s doing it. You can tell he’s hyper-focused on the preparation part of it, and then obviously the days that he starts, the execution."

Ohtani sat out pitching duties in 2024. He returned to the mound last summer and posted a 2.87 ERA over 14 starts while hitting to a 1.014 OPS, earning his fourth MVP award in five seasons.

The Dodgers have managed Ohtani's workload carefully this year. They have held him out of some hitting duties to focus on pitching, as his offensive numbers dip when he takes the mound.

"It’s interesting because last year, there was a lot of conversations that he shouldn’t pitch and just be a hitter," Roberts said. "Now, it’s kind of flipped on its head. I can’t imagine what goes through his mind, but I do feel clarity on how we’re managing him. There’s no one way to go about it. You’re just trying to be fluid, and react and respond to how he’s feeling."

Ohtani bats at the top of the Dodgers lineup even as their top pitcher. The arrangement echoes the pre-designated hitter era, with the pitcher hitting first instead of ninth.