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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani seems poised to win his fourth straight MVP award

Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani seems poised to win his fourth straight MVP award originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Is there anything that Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani can't do?

Already having almost every piece of hardware Major League Baseball can offer, minus a Cy Young Award and a Gold Glove, the five-time All-Star seems to accomplish the former this season. In nine starts, Ohtani has a minuscule 0.82 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP and struck out 61 in 55.0 innings.

Not only is Ohtani determined to win the National League Cy Young Award, but the two-time World Series champion is also the odds-on favorite to win his fourth straight (fifth overall) MVP award.

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani leads the field to win the National League MVP Award

Regardless of how great players like Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber, Washington Nationals' James Wood, and Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll do, there seems to be nothing that can be done to dethrone the four-time (three straight) MVP, who received 30 first-place votes in MLB's latest poll to win the award. It also doesn't help the cases of Schwarber, Wood and Carroll, as Ohtani has slashed .410/.500/.689 since mid-May.

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"It will be hard to stop Ohtani from winning his fifth career and fourth straight MVP Award if he keeps up his two-way success," wrote Theo DeRosa of MLB.com. "Ohtani has taken his pitching prowess to a new level in 2026, allowing just five earned runs in 55 innings for a minuscule 0.82 ERA while striking out 61. He’s also picking things up at the plate after a relatively slow start: Since resting for two days as a hitter in mid-May, Ohtani enters Tuesday with a .410/.500/.689 slash line over his past 16 contests. He’s at the top of his game both as a batter and a pitcher, so it’s of little surprise why nearly all our voters had Ohtani atop their ballots."

Until Ohtani shows signs of decline or transitions into a pitcher-only or designated hitter-only role, other players in the National League seem unlikely to win the award. Ohtani is under contract with the Dodgers for the next seven seasons.