When you're Shohei Ohtani, even a "rough patch" at the plate looks like a career year for most players. The two-way superstar has been battling through a recent slump offensively, but don't let that fool you—on the mound, he's been absolutely untouchable.
Wednesday night was arguably Ohtani's finest pitching performance of the season. He delivered seven scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants, striking out eight batters and making hitters look completely lost. It was so dominant that the Dodgers decided to give him a rare break from hitting, sitting him Wednesday and Thursday to let him reset.
Here's the crazy part: even with his hitting struggles, Ohtani still owns a 122 wRC+, meaning he's still a well-above-average batter. He's just not meeting his own otherworldly standards. But on the mound? That's a different story entirely.
After Wednesday's gem, Ohtani's ERA sits at a microscopic 0.82 through 44 innings. He's racked up 50 strikeouts against just 11 walks, and he's led the National League in ERA after all seven of his starts this season. In fact, he's topped the majors in ERA after five of those starts, including each of the last three.
The only thing keeping him off the leaderboard at times has been innings. Ohtani didn't pitch until the Dodgers' fifth game, and the team has carefully managed his schedule—giving him extra rest between starts and working around off days. But he's been a workhorse when he does take the mound, lasting at least six innings in every start and going seven in each of his last two outings.
Through 43 Dodgers games, Ohtani has thrown 44 innings. Of those, 38 have been scoreless. The six innings where he allowed runs? Only four of those runs were earned. And even if you added the two unearned runs to his ledger, his 1.23 ERA would still lead the majors, ahead of Yankees right-hander Cam Schlitter's 1.35.
His 2.17 expected ERA (xERA) ranks second-best in all of baseball, trailing only one pitcher. For a guy who's supposed to be "struggling," that's not bad company to keep.