---
title: "Ohtani Is Running Away With the NL MVP Race as the Dodgers Pull Clear"
description: "Through the season's first half, Shohei Ohtani is hitting near .300 with power while pitching to a sub-2.00 ERA for the Dodgers — a two-way performance that has him leading the majors in wins above replacement and well clear in the National League MVP conversation."
category: "Sports"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/sports
author: "Camila Reyes"
published: 2026-06-30T08:48:00.000Z
updated: 2026-06-30T08:48:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/ohtani-is-running-away-with-the-nl-mvp-race-as-the-dodgers-pull-clear
tags: ["Shohei Ohtani", "Los Angeles Dodgers", "MLB", "NL MVP", "two-way player", "NL West"]
---
# Ohtani Is Running Away With the NL MVP Race as the Dodgers Pull Clear

Through the season's first half, Shohei Ohtani is hitting near .300 with power while pitching to a sub-2.00 ERA for the Dodgers — a two-way performance that has him leading the majors in wins above replacement and well clear in the National League MVP conversation.

The most remarkable player in baseball is, at the midpoint of 2026, somehow exceeding even his own standard.

## The numbers

As of June 30, Shohei Ohtani is hitting about .297 with 18 home runs and a .958 OPS while pitching to a 1.58 ERA over 13 starts for the Dodgers, [according to MLB.com](https://www.mlb.com/player/shohei-ohtani-660271) and [Yahoo Sports](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dodgers-shohei-ohtani-running-away-081000853.html). His wins above replacement leads all of Major League Baseball. (The figures are a snapshot of a season still in motion and shift game to game.) Doing both at once — front-line starter and middle-of-the-order slugger — is something no one else in the sport is attempting, let alone at this level.

## Front-runner by a wide margin

The midseason MVP consensus is lopsided in his favor: Ohtani topped MLB.com's midseason poll by a comfortable margin, leading the National League in on-base percentage and posting a scorching June at the plate, per Yahoo Sports. Should he win in November, it would be among the most decorated MVP runs in the game's history — the kind of season that, even in a city accustomed to stars, stands apart.

## The two-way act, fully operational

Ohtani signed with the Dodgers before 2024 still recovering from elbow surgery, limiting him to hitting that year; he returned to the mound in 2025. In 2026 both tracks are running at full speed. His ERA would rank among the NL's best were he to throw enough innings to qualify, and his fastball is again sitting in the upper 90s — making his pitching a co-equal argument to his bat, not a sideshow.

## The Dodgers pull clear

Ohtani's brilliance has lifted a team built to defend its title. The Dodgers held the best record in the NL West with a comfortable division lead over the San Diego Padres entering the day's games, [per ESPN's standings](https://www.espn.com/mlb/standings). A division once billed as the majors' most competitive has, for now, become a Dodgers procession — and MVP voters tend to reward dominant performances on winning teams. What Ohtani is doing in Los Angeles this summer is the kind of season people describe for years.

## Sources

- [Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani is running away with the MVP race](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dodgers-shohei-ohtani-running-away-081000853.html)
- [Shohei Ohtani 2026 stats](https://www.mlb.com/player/shohei-ohtani-660271)
- [2026 MLB standings](https://www.espn.com/mlb/standings)