The celebrations haven’t stopped for Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who won his second consecutive National League Most Valuable Player award Thursday night.
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The Dodgers became back-to-back World Series champions earlier this month, but are already thinking about a three-peat in 2026. At the Dodgers’ World Series parade, team majority owner Mark Walter summed up the organization’s intentions for next season.
“All I have to say to you is, we’ll be back next year,” Walter said.
As the Dodgers look ahead to 2026, Ohtani revealed he plans to pitch the entire season.
“I do plan on being able to pitch off the mound from the beginning of the season,” Ohtani said through an interpreter after accepting his MVP award. “For me, the biggest thing is being able to stay healthy throughout the whole season and hopefully be able to start and end the season on the mound. The goal is obviously to be healthy for the full year and be able to pitch for the whole year.
“Obviously we might have new additions and some guys might be gone. In any case, I do hope to be able to pitch however many days I need to be out there and just be healthy.”
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The Dodgers two-way star made his long-awaited pitching debut in June against the San Diego Padres. It marked Ohtani’s first time on a mound since August 2023, when he was a member of the Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani tossed just one inning in his Dodgers pitching debut, but continued to increase the length of his starts as the season progressed. The ramp up in-season was unusual for a pitcher, however, Ohtani is anything but normal.
The Dodgers two-way star produced a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts across 47 innings in 2025.
Now, the 2026 season should feature a full season of pitching from Ohtani as the Dodgers hope to win their 10th franchise title.
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