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As Shohei Ohtani fired six scoreless innings Wednesday to drop his ERA on the year to 0.74, the third-lowest mark through the first 10 starts of a season in MLB history, he continued to feature a new element to his game. And it’s one that might be necessary as the two-way star tries to capture his first ever Cy Young Award in a year that features a slew of formidable contenders for MLB’s top pitching honor. While Ohtani’s strikeout rate is down from his career norms, his 51.7% groundball rate is the highest of his career — up more than 10% from last year and 6% from his previous career high —  and the fourth-highest among all starters who’ve thrown at least 60 innings this year. On Wednesday in Arizona, he began his start by inducing three straight groundouts in a spotless first inning and ended it with a double-play grounder from Corbin Carroll to escape a sixth-inning threat. Ohtani struck out six and got eight groundouts on the night while needing just 89 pitches through six innings. His ability to keep the ball on the ground has played an important role in his success, helping him limit slug — he has allowed a home run in just one of his 10 appearances this year — and consistently go deep into games, which he’ll need to do if he wants any chance of winning a Cy Young. The Dodgers continue riding with a six-man rotation, even with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow down, in part to manage Ohtani’s innings and workload. Unlike other Cy Young contenders, Ohtani can’t afford even the occasional clunker. He’s pitching like he knows it, going at least six innings in all but one of his 10 starts, allowing two runs or fewer in each of his 10 starts and holding opponents to an MLB-low .142 batting average. Since the earned run became an official stat, Jacob deGrom (0.56 ERA, 2021) and Juan Marichal (0.59 ERA, 1966) are the only pitchers with a lower ERA through their first 10 starts of a season than Ohtani. “I think a lot of starting pitchers, you feel your way into a game and you give up a couple early and you bear down,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “But I’ve noticed with Shohei, every run is a premium. He’s literally trying to throw a shutout every time he goes out there, where I don’t know if every starter has that mindset.” Since the mound was lowered in 1969, only 28 pitchers who qualified for the ERA title have finished a season with an ERA under 2.00. That number drops to 25 pitchers if you eliminate the shortened 2020 season. The lowest ERA in that time belongs to Dwight Gooden, who had a 1.53 ERA in 1985. Ohtani’s ERA, after holding his opponent scoreless in half of his 10 starts this year, is half of Gooden’s mark (0.74). But, as of Thursday, Ohtani is just shy of qualifying for the ERA title. He’s tied for 74th in innings pitched and currently on pace to throw 159 innings. Over the last 20 years, the fewest number of innings pitched by a Cy Young starter over the course of a full season is 167 by Corbin Burnes. Ohtani will have his work cut out for him to reach that number. And in a year in which the Phillies’ Christopher Sánchez just racked up 50.2 consecutive scoreless innings and the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski is running a strikeout rate near 40%, Ohtani must maintain a sizable ERA lead and routinely rack up starts of six and seven innings if he hopes to win MLB’s top pitching honor. Keeping the ball on the ground, the way he has to this point, will help. Ohtani’s arsenal hasn’t changed dramatically to allow him to post the highest groundball rate and lowest home-run rate of his career. While he has incorporated more of his curveball and splitter this year, he still leans primarily on his four-seamer and sweeper — two of the best pitches in baseball — throwing them a combined 75.3% of the time. Rather, Dodgers assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness believes that Ohtani’s elevated ground-ball rate is mostly the result of the pitcher’s enhanced ability to read the game, understand opponents’ tendencies and mess with a hitter’s timing by varying his delivery and velocity. Sometimes, that can help him avoid barrels and get harmless contact to end an at-bat quickly. Other times — like when he slowed his mechanics down to end an 11-pitch at-bat against Francisco Lindor in April — it can help him get a strikeout when he needs one. “He’s one of the best self-coaches we have,” McGuiness told me last week. “I think he’s kind of just found a consistent delivery and throw right now. He’s tapped into a crazy amount of power, and he’s just avoiding the fat part of the plate.” Over his last four starts, Ohtani has surrendered just nine hits and one run — and that’s while fighting his command through a large portion of that stretch. Wednesday’s start, in which he allowed just one free pass, represented a step in the right direction. He allowed three baserunners as a pitcher and reached base five times as a hitter, getting his batting average up above .300 for the first time since Opening Day. After a slow start to the year offensively, he now has the lowest ERA in MLB as a pitcher and the third-highest OPS in the National League as a hitter. “He’s the best player that’s ever walked this earth,” said catcher Will Smith. This year, he might also be the best pitcher, too. “When Shohei says he’s going to go do something, we all believe it,” McGuiness told me. “Like, he’s probably going to go do it. It is unbelievable. No words can really describe what he’s accomplishing right now, and honestly I think we’re just scratching the surface on the best version of him, which is even scarier to think about.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Emerse Faé deserves a lot of credit as he pulled off quite an upset in his hometown. The Ivory Coast manager, born in the French city of Nantes, led the team he once represented as a player to one of the biggest shocks in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup by beating tournament favorite France. But Thursday’s result now raises concerns about France’s scoring efficiency and its killer instinct to put a winnable game away. It also now puts the spotlight on an Ivory Coast team that could now be one of the potential dark horses of the tournament. The defining story of this game was how Ivory Coast turned the tide of the game and rose in the second half, largely through the contributions of French-born players Guéla Doué (whose brother Désiré Doué plays for France) and Nicolas Pépé. Then it was Guéla who assisted Amad Diallo on the winner. Here are my takeaways: 1. France Wastefulness A Concern France controlled the game in Nantes in the early going but could not put the game away. It wasn’t until Rayan Cherki’s 45th minute goal when Les Bleus found the back of the net. French manager Didier Deschamps made the obvious decision to not start the players who recently won the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain, notably Ousmane Dembélé. That still left impressive quality such as Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaire-Emery, Désiré Doué, and Lucas Hernández on the bench. Despite that, France was able to start a first-rate attack including Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Thuram, and Michael Olise. The Ivory Coast did well enough to keep the game scoreless at 0-0 for as long as it did and in fact had a chance to strike first when Simon Adingra took advantage of a mistake from Real Madrid midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni to go one on one with keeper Mike Maignan, only to see the AC Milan man come up with the save. Despite the edge in the first half, France was wasteful throughout. Mbappé saw a good chance saved by Yahia Fofana in the opening minutes. Thuram and Olise would also fail to take advantage of goal-scoring chances in the first half. Mbappé was particularly guilty. The Real Madrid star trails Olivier Giroud by just one goal to become France’s all-time goalscorer, but has faced criticism of his finishing inefficiency and missed chances close to goal. This game, played in front of home fans, will only increase these concerns. Ultimately, their failure to put the game away in the first half sunk them. Where France was wasteful, Ivory Coast was clinical as the team equalized in the 53rd minute when Guéla Doué was sent in alone on Maignan with a perfect pass from Villarreal’s Pépé. Then, in the 84th minute, it was Doué setting up Diallo with a pass from the right wing which the Manchester United attacker was able to finish from the middle of the box. At the World Cup, chances will be harder to come by and unless France is able to make the most of its chances, they could find it a difficult road despite their immense talent. 2. Ivory Coast’s Discipline Pays Off In the early goings, it seemed as if this game was going to a coast for France. Deschamps’s team was in control of the pace and had the bulk of first chances. But the Ivory Coast grew into the game and now Fae has the opportunity to lead the Ivory Coast to a meaningful win that should give it momentum heading into the World Cup. Playing on the road against a World Cup favorite and trailing at the half, Ivory Coast responded by playing brilliantly. In the end, the goals it scored were through impressive individual quality with passing that cut through the French midfield and backline. In the early goings, the Ivory Coast could have become frustrated or overwhelmed, but instead they maintained their resolve, and let their individual quality play out. Right back Doué was the best player on the field in this game. The Strasbourg winger pushed forward in the attack effectively and was able to notch a goal and an assist. Defensively, he was also very impressive in his ability to help contain France’s attack down his side of the field. He also earned a bit of household bragging rights with the victory over his brother’s team. 3. Cherki’s Case To Start On a team as talented as Les Bleus, the internal competition for minutes at the World Cup is fierce. Rayan Cherki is generally not considered a starter for a first-choice French team, but the Manchester City attacker made a great case on Thursday as he was the best player on the field in the first half. A long-time veteran of France’s youth teams and a member of the 2024 Olympic team that won the silver medal, the Lyon native has been making inroads with the full French team over the past year. Cherki did not make his debut for France until June 5, 2025, when he also scored his first goal. Shortly before halftime, he scored his second career international goal to give the hosts a 1-0 edge. It wasn’t just the goal, Cherki was on the ball throughout his entire 78 minutes and was consistently getting into dangerous places and finding his teammates in the attack. He ultimately was one of the few bright spots on a bad day for France. 4. Ivory Coast As A Dark Horse? That has been some talk about the Ivory Coast being a potential sleeper team who could make a run this summer. The team has a manageable group with Ecuador, Curaçao, and Germany rounding out Group E. But now, the expectations will only be heightened. A win over Curaçao should be expected and a result over Germany would take a similar level of resolve as defeating France. The game against Ecuador could be an even match. What should be encouraging for the Ivory Coast is that this result over France was not how a typical upset goes where a set piece, a penalty, or a red card evens the game. The Ivory Coast scored twice from the run of play with first-rate passing and effective finishing. What this game showed was that Ivory Coast as the talent to play with the best and the players are confident in their ability.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports