For two straight years, Shohei Ohtani stood tall as the National League’s MVP, making the award look almost inseparable from his name. But every reign eventually meets a challenger, and in 2026, Pete Crow-Armstrong emerged as the man who finally ended Ohtani’s dominance. With a league-leading 45 home runs and 41 stolen bases, PCA delivered a season worthy of the spotlight, while Ohtani’s campaign was repeatedly interrupted by injuries, limiting him to just 139 games. Yet, even in a year that fell short of his usual standards, the Dodgers superstar showed why his humility remains as remarkable as his talent.

Ohtani congratulated Crow-Armstrong on the achievement while acknowledging his own struggles, but his message for the future carried a different promise. For Dodgers fans, the disappointment of losing the MVP crown could soon give way to renewed hope, with Ohtani setting his sights on a bigger comeback in 2027.

“I thought it was a very frustrating season. To be quite honest, obviously we did not do that well in the playoffs. Personally, I was a little bit frustrated with my overall performance throughout the season. So, just in a nutshell, it wasn’t a great season personally for me,” Ohtani said in a conversation with MLB Network.

“I’m truly honored to be a finalist for the last six years. But just even seeing the players who are kind of listed up right now, I do feel truly honored to be just in a class with these guys. So, it’s great.”

Ohtani entered 2026 attempting his first full wire-to-wire two-way workload since undergoing elbow surgery, and he looked like the clear MVP favorite through June before his body broke down.

Ohtani dominated early as a pitcher, going 8–2 with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts across 14 starts. However, lingering right biceps tightness and left knee inflammation forced the Dodgers to scratch him from the rotation on July 10 and shut down his throwing entirely by July 25.

Compromised by biceps, knee, and neck flare-ups, Ohtani dropped from a career-high 55 home runs in 2025 to 30 home runs in 135 games in 2026. He went nearly two months without hitting a home run after August 18 and entered a 15-day injured list stint in September.

Over his final 29 regular-season games after attempting to resume throwing in August, Ohtani batted just .205 with a .666 OPS. His struggles carried into October, where he hit .192 (5-for-26) with 10 strikeouts and one home run across two postseason rounds.

As Shohei Ohtani struggled, across eight postseason games, the entire Dodgers lineup hit just .195 with a .590 OPS, scoring 25 total runs while striking out 68 times. On the other hand, it was Pete Crow-Armstrong’s show all throughout the year.

After a slow start in April, he overhauled his plate discipline, boosting his walk rate by 6.9% (the largest jump in MLB), and unlocked massive pull-side power. He became just the seventh player in MLB history, and the first Cub ever, to hit 40+ home runs and steal 40+ bases in a single season.

So, MLB had no other choice but to announce the Cubs’ slugger as their NL MVP winner. Yet Shohei Ohtani is far from giving up.

“We obviously lost in the postseason. So again, my focus will just be to make sure we and I perform to the best of our abilities. And hopefully win the World Series,” Ohtani added.

Ohtani knows the business of turning around after a slump. Across 44 games in 2020, he hit just .190 with a .657 OPS and 50 strikeouts in 153 at-bats, while giving up seven earned runs in just 1.2 innings pitched (a 37.80 ERA) before being shut down from the mound.

Over the following offseason, he completely rebuilt his lower-half mechanics and nutrition routine. In 2021, he erupted for 46 home runs, 100 RBIs, and 26 stolen bases alongside a 9–2 record and 3.18 ERA on the mound, winning his first unanimous American League MVP Award.

The situation is the same this time. Ohtani now has the offseason to rearm ahead of the 2027 season.