Shohei Ohtani's 1.06 ERA Is Bonkers, But Dodgers Fans Need to See Why He's Costing Them Cash

YO, Emerald City! You already know the M's just handled their business against the Orioles, a gritty 3-1 W at T-Mobile Park that feels GOOD. Our boys are grinding! But while we're celebrating, over in L.A., Shohei Ohtani is out there doing alien things on the mound, and what's wild is that his ridiculous numbers aren't making things easy for Dodgers faithful who put their money down. It's a head-scratcher, honestly.

Ohtani's Numbers Are Absolutely Wild... And Confusing

So, this dude Ohtani is pitching today in a series finale against the Rays, and it's a 3:10 p.m. ET first pitch. This isn't just any game; it's a battle of Cy Young-caliber aces, with Shane McClanahan taking the bump for Tampa Bay. Ohtani's stats as a pitcher are straight up bananas: he's 6-2 with a minuscule 1.06 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP in 11 starts. He's punched out 73 hitters in 67.2 innings, and opponents are hitting a laughable .154 against him. If he were a qualified pitcher, that ERA would lead the majors, his opponents' batting average would be second, and his WHIP would be tied for second. He's not just good, he's historically good. He's so dominant he accounted for the *only* run yesterday with a sixth-inning homer in a 1-0 victory. Seriously, a 1-0 win off his own bat! He's the -1600 favorite for NL MVP, with the rest of the National League at +900. Winning a Cy Young is tougher, with him at +1800 behind gu

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ys like Jacob Misiorowski, Cristopher Sanchez, and Paul Skenes, but still, the talk is there. They even have a prop bet on him for MVP and teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto for Cy Young at +2500, which is wild given Yamamoto has been spectacular too.

Potential World Series Preview? And Why Ohtani's Not a Bettor's Dream

This Rays-Dodgers matchup could actually be a World Series preview. Remember, the Dodgers beat the Rays in the 2020 COVID year. L.A. is the +110 NL favorite to win the World Series, while Tampa Bay is at +700 to win the AL pennant, even though they "might not have enough hitting." It's a classic small-market ("poor" team, Ohtani's contract is about half their franchise value) versus big-market ("rich" one) showdown. But here's the kicker, the part that makes absolutely no sense: despite Ohtani's otherworldly pitching, if you bet $100 on L.A. to win each of his starts this season, you would actually be *down* $254. Let that sink in. This dude is practically unhittable, putting up a 1.06 ERA, and still, for whatever reason, his team isn't consistently winning enough for bettors to profit. It just shows how tough it is out there in MLB, even with an absolute alien on the mound. So yeah, the Mariners are winning and that's what we love to see. But out there in the league, guys like Ohtani are setting a crazy bar, making you wonder what it takes to consistently win. We gotta keep our eyes on our boys, keep building, and see if we can keep that momentum rolling. Let's go M's!

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.