Shohei Ohtani just did something for the first time in his remarkable career. Any time that happens it’s noteworthy.
On Monday, the Dodgers star was named National League Pitcher of the Month for March/April. It is the first time in his career that he has won a pitching-specific monthly honor. He is no stranger to player of the month awards, as he won four in the American League and two in the National League. But he has never received an official award specifically for his pitching until now.
In March and April, Ohtani made five starts and went 2–1 with a 0.60 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 34 strikeouts against nine walks in 30 innings. He went six innings in each start and allowed two earned runs total, and four runs overall. He has topped 100 pitches once, which came in his last start on April 28. L.A. has been slowly ramping him up.
The was Ohtani’s best month on the mound during his MLB carerer. We decided to go inside the numbers to show just how dominant he was.
0 — Home runs allowed in 30 innings. He averaged 1.23 home runs per nine innings in 2023, his last full season of pitching.
1.3 — Pitching fWAR accumulated so far. That’s good enough for second in the National League behind Mets righty Nolan McLean. When combined with his hitting efforts, he ranks third in baseball with 2.0 fWAR.
1.90 — Ohtani’s FIP, best in the NL and second to MLB leader Cam Schlittler (1.54) among pitchers who have thrown 30 innings or more.
2.24 — Ohtani’s xERA, best in baseball among pitchers with at least 30 innings.
.000 — Opponents’ batting average against his curveball, which he’s thrown 63 times. It has only been put in play five times this season, and has been used to get him four strikeouts.
2 — Dodgers wins in Ohtani’s five starts. He has allowed one earned run in the three losses combined.
53.4 — Ohtani’s ground ball rate, a career-high, and 12% higher than in 2025.
.133 — Opposing hitters’ xSLG on Ohtani’s sweeper. That’s more than 100 points lower than last season (.254). His sweeper also carries an xwOBA of .195.
.290 — xSLG against Ohtani’s four-seamer, 41 points lower than in 2025.
1.5 — Inches of horizontal break added to his sweeper this season. In 2025, it broke an average of 13.1 inches, with 3.4 inches of rise. So far in 2026, it’s breaking an average of 14.6 inches with 3.9 inches of rise. He’s throwing it at roughly the same speed but it now has more spin at 2,698 rpms vs. 2,594 last season.
2.7 — Inches of horizontal break added to his curveball this season, to go along with 1.4 inches more drop. In 2025, Ohtani averaged 10.9 inches of break on his curve, with 13.6 inches of drop. In 2026, he’s improved those numbers to 13.6 inches of break and 15 inches of drop. It’s no wonder he’s gone from throwing it 9% of the time to 13%.
With that in mind...
42.2 — Whiff rate against Ohtani’s sweeper.
42.9 — Whiff rate against Ohtani’s curveball.
Somehow, Ohtani has gotten even better. During his MLB career, the 31-year-old has been a hitter first and a pitcher second. One month into the 2026 season, his work on the mound is outpacing what he has done at the plate.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Inside the Numbers of Shohei Ohtani’s Best-Ever Month on the Mound.
