Is Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani AI? Pedro Martinez has questions

Pedro Martinez became one of the best right-handed starting pitchers ever despite being less than 6-feet tall, so he knows what it means to be an anomaly in the game of baseball. Nothing should surprise this Hall of Famer, and yet, he was flummoxed following Shohei Ohtani’s latest display of greatness. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar has had a slow start at the plate, but he was brilliant on the mound in Tuesday’s 4-1 win versus the Cleveland Guardians.

Ohtani looked quite comfortable in his first start of the regular season, striking out six batters in six scoreless innings in front of the home crowd at Dodger Stadium. He did walk three batters, but a fourth-inning Rhys Hoskins double represented the only hit he allowed. Martinez could not believe the level of dominance the two-time reigning National League MVP asserted over a formidable Guardians squad on March 31.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner made a big accusation. “I think Shohei was made by AI,” Martinez said, per the TNT Sports U.S. X account. “Really, Shohei is just amazing. How can you get the feel for pitching so early in the season and use that variety of pitches effectively all night against a pretty good team?”

"I think Shohei was made by AI." – @45PedroMartinez pic.twitter.com/F0cn0HwIzt

— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) April 1, 2026

Ohtani is arguably the most talented player the MLB world has ever known, but he somehow still finds ways to astonish the masses. Martinez’s praise puts into perspective just how difficult it is for a full-time hitter to excel as a pitcher in the fifth game of the campaign. The two-time World Series champion battled some control issues in the third inning, but he also confused Cleveland’s lineup with devastating breaking balls that were extremely difficult to read until they landed in the catcher’s glove.

Shohei Ohtani is not publicly announcing a Cy Young pursuit, but with his health and sublime versatility, the top pitching prize seems like a realistic goal in 2026. How many hurlers who also hit could overcome multiple elbow surgeries and shut down a club at the beginning of a season? Even elite athletes are not supposed to achieve such a feat.

Maybe Pedro Martinez’s AI joke is no laughing matter at all.

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