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Shohei Ohtani

March 23, 2023

"Ohtani" redirects here. For other people with the surname, see Ōtani.

Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平, Ōtani Shōhei, born July 5, 1994), nicknamed "Shotime",[2] is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher, designated hitter and outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League.

Shohei Ohtani
Ohtani with the Los Angeles Angels in 2022
Los Angeles Angels – No. 17
Pitcher / Designated hitter / Outfielder
Born: (1994-07-05) July 5, 1994 (age 28)
Ōshū, Iwate, Japan
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Professional debut
NPB: March 29, 2013, for the Hokkaidō Nippon-Ham Fighters
MLB: March 29, 2018, for the Los Angeles Angels
NPB statistics
(through 2017 season)
Win–loss record42–15
Earned run average2.52
Strikeouts624
Batting average.286
Home runs45
Runs batted in166
MLB statistics
(through 2022 season)
Win–loss record28–14
Earned run average2.96
Strikeouts441
Batting average.267
Home runs127
Runs batted in342
Teams
Career highlights and awards
NPB
MLB
Medals
Shohei Ohtani
Ohtani's name in kanji
Japanese name
Kanji大谷 翔平
Hiraganaおおたに しょうへい
Transcriptions
RomanizationŌtani Shōhei

Ohtani was the first pick of the Fighters in the 2012 draft. He played in NPB for the Fighters from 2013 through 2017 as a pitcher and an outfielder. On October 16, 2016, Ohtani recorded the fastest pitch in NPB history at 165 kilometres per hour (102.5 mph). The record was broken by Thyago Vieira five years later, but he still holds the Japanese record. The Fighters posted Ohtani to MLB after the 2017 season, and he signed with the Angels. He won the 2018 American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award and the 2021 AL Most Valuable Player Award. Ohtani's 2021 season was formally recognized as "historically significant" and a "major impact on the sport"[3] by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, as he became the first two-way player in the history of MLB with 10+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases as a hitter and 100+ strikeouts and 10+ pitching appearances as a pitcher in the same season while also holding at least a share of the major league lead in home runs in fourteen starts.[3] He was also the first player in MLB history to be an All-Star as both a pitcher and a hitter, as he was a starter in the 2021 All-Star Game in both capacities, as the AL's manager-selected starting pitcher (earning the win) and fan-elected starting designated hitter (as the leadoff hitter).[3]

In 2022, Ohtani became the first player in the modern era to qualify for both the hitting and pitching leaderboards in one season, reaching the limits of 3.1 plate appearances and one inning pitched per game with 586 at bats against 166 innings pitched.[4]

Early life

Ohtani was born to Kayoko and Toru Ohtani in Ōshū, Iwate, Japan, on July 5, 1994. His mother, Kayoko, was a national-level badminton player in high school and his father worked at a local automobile manufacturing plant and was an amateur baseball player who played in the Japanese Industrial League.[5][6] The youngest of three children, he has one older sister, Yuka, and one older brother Ryuta, who is also an amateur baseball player in the Japanese Industrial League.[5] In Japan, Ohtani was known as a "yakyū shōnen" (野球少年)—a kid who lives, eats and breathes baseball.[6] Coached by his father, he displayed an aptitude for the game at an early age.[7] He began playing baseball in his second year of elementary school, and as a seventh-grader, Ohtani recorded all but one of 18 outs in a six-inning regional championship game.[5][6]

Amateur career

As a teenager, Ohtani could have played baseball for any powerhouse high school team in big cities such as Osaka or Yokohama.[6] Instead, he opted to stay local, selecting Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate Prefecture, Northern Japan,[8] the same high school as pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, whom he admired;[9] Ohtani competed there as a swimmer[10] and played baseball.[5] Ohtani's high school baseball coach, Hiroshi Sasaki, said that he was a fast swimmer who "could have made the Olympics."[11]

Under Sasaki's guidance, Hanamaki Higashi's players lived on campus, returning home for only six days a year. Sasaki would assign toilet cleaning chores to Ohtani, to teach the youth pitcher humility.[6] Ohtani threw a 160 km/h (99 mph) fastball as an 18-year-old high school pitcher. He threw the pitch in the Japanese national high school baseball championship tournament, commonly called Summer Koshien.[12] In the 2012 18U Baseball World Championship, Ohtani had an 0–1 win–loss record with 16 strikeouts, eight walks, five hits, five runs, and a 4.35 earned run average (ERA) in 10+1⁄3 innings pitched.[13]

Professional career

Ohtani expressed a desire to move directly to the major leagues after high school and received interest from numerous teams including the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.[12][14][15][16] On October 21, 2012, he announced that he would pursue a career in Major League Baseball rather than turn professional in Japan.[17][18] The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters decided to draft him in the 2012 NPB Draft nevertheless, despite knowing that there was a high likelihood he would not play for them. After an exclusive negotiating window between him and the Fighters, Ohtani announced that he would sign with the Fighters and spend some years in Japan before a possible MLB move.[7][19] Hokkaido said it would allow Ohtani to serve as a pitcher and position player; the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had become Ohtani's top-choice MLB team, were not prepared to let him play both ways.[20] He was assigned the jersey number 11, previously worn by Yu Darvish.[21]

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

Rookie year (2013)

Ohtani made his debut at age 18 in the Fighters' season-opening game on March 29, 2013, playing as a right fielder.[22] He was selected for a Pacific League roster spot for the 2013 All-Star Game. As a pitcher, he finished the season with a 3–0 record in 11 starts. Ohtani was used as a rookie in both the outfield (leading the Fighters with 51 games in right) and as a pitcher.[23] He was the second Nippon Pro Baseball rookie drafted out of high school the previous year to be used as both a pitcher and position player, following Kikuo Tokunaga in 1951; Ohtani was the first to start in both roles. He was the first NPB pitcher since Takao Kajimoto in 1963 to bat 3rd, 4th or 5th and the first rookie hurler to do so since Junzo Sekine in 1950. He was the second player, following Osamu Takechi (also 1950), to start a game at pitcher, bat in the heart of the order (3rd through 5th) and get a hit and a run batted in (RBI) in that game. He missed time during the year with a right ankle sprain and right cheekbone fracture.

For the season, he was 3–0 with a 4.23 ERA, 33 walks, and 46 strikeouts in 61+2⁄3 innings. and hit .238/.284/.376 in 204 plate appearances.[2] He had seven outfield assists to one error. His 8 hit batsmen tied Manabu Mima, Tadashi Settsu, Hideaki Wakui and Ryoma Nogami for 5th in the 2013 Pacific League. Ohtani received 4 of the 233 votes for the 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (Pacific League), tying Tatsuya Sato for a distant second behind Takahiro Norimoto.[24] During his five-year tenure with the Fighters, Ohtani opted to live in the team's provided dormitories, while his parents oversaw his personal finances.[6]

Second NPB All-Star selection (2014)

 
Ohtani batting in 2013 for the Fighters

Throughout the entire season, Ohtani performed double-duty as a pitcher and outfielder, utilizing his strong throwing arm as well as his impressive batting skills. As a hitter, he batted .274, with 28 extra-base hits (including 10 home runs), 31 RBIs and a .842 on-base plus slugging percentage in 212 at-bats. As a pitcher, he was 11–4 with a 2.61 ERA in 24 starts and struck out 179 (third in NPB) in 155.1 innings. His 10.4 K/9 was the best in the league and opponents hit just .223 against him.

In a September 7 game against the Orix Buffaloes, he homered to straightaway center at Kyocera Dome to become the first Japanese player to reach double digits in both home runs and wins.[25][26] He tossed a 1–0 shutout against Orix on September 13 and became the first pitcher out of high school to record a 1–0 shutout victory within his first two years for the Fighters since Toshiaki Moriyasu in 1967. He also became the first pitcher out of high school to notch two shutout victories within his first two years in the NPB since Yu Darvish.[27]

During the July 2014 Mazda All-Star Game, he threw a 162 km/h (101 mph) fastball in the bottom of the first inning, setting a new record for the fastest official pitch thrown by a Japanese pitcher, beating the record set by the Yakult Swallows' Yoshinori Sato in 2010 (161 km/h (100 mph)).[28] The jersey he wore during the game sold for 1,752,000 yen ($17,000), making it the top-seller at the All-Star 2014 Charity Auction. The proceeds were donated to three Tohoku earthquake children's relief funds.[29]

On October 5 against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Ohtani recorded the fastest pitch by a Japanese pitcher in an official game, tying Marc Kroon's all-time record for NPB pitchers. The pitch came against lead-off hitter Akaminai Ginji in the 1st inning. With the count 0–1, Ohtani threw a fastball that registered 162 km/h (101 mph) on the stadium radar gun and shattered Ginji's bat in half. He also hit 162 km/h twice against the second hitter, Aoi Enomoto. Of the 15 pitches he threw in the first inning, eight were in the 160s; 99s in MPH.[30]

During the postseason, Ohtani was chosen to become a member of the national team, dubbed Samurai Japan, and participated in the Suzuki All-Star Series,[31] a five-game friendly competition with a squad of major leaguers. In Game 1, he pitched one shutout inning in relief, retiring three consecutive batters. He started Game 5 at the Sapporo Dome and, although his team ultimately lost (3–1), he wasn't charged with an earned run (he gave up two unearned), and of the 12 outs he recorded in four innings, he got seven via strikeout. He threw mostly fastballs, even clocked one at 160 km/h (99 mph), occasional curveballs, and a few forkballs in the mid-140s, including one he threw perfectly in the second inning to strike out Tampa Bay Rays star Ben Zobrist.[32]

In December, he became the second player out of high school in NPB history to reach 100M yen in salary in his third year, after Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2001. His new contract more than tripled his previous salary estimated at 30M yen.[7]

Pacific League Pitcher Best Nine and ERA leader (2015)

 
Ohtani with the Fighters in 2015

2015 marked Ohtani's third professional season (and second full season). Though his offensive production declined somewhat (five home runs), his performance on the mound was among the best in the league, earning him the starter role in the 2015 All-Star Game and the pitching spot in the end-of-year Pacific League Best Nine awards. Ohtani started 2015 NPB All-Star Game 1 for the PL. He went two innings and fanned two, allowing one run (on a double by Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and a single by Jose Lopez), relieved by Nishi with a 1–0 deficit. The PL would lose 8–6 but he got a no-decision. He finished the season 15–5 with a 2.24 ERA, 196 strikeouts and only 100 hits in 160+2⁄3 innings. He led the PL in ERA (.14 over Nishi), tied Wakui for the most wins and was second in strikeouts (19 behind Norimoto, though he threw 34 fewer innings). He rarely played the field but did see some action at DH, hitting .202/.252/.376 with five home runs in 109 at bats. He made the Best Nine as the PL's top hurler. He finished third in MVP voting again, placing behind Yanagita and Shogo Akiyama for the 2015 Pacific League MVP. Ohtani placed third in MVP voting (first among pitchers) and was one of three candidates considered for the 2015 Sawamura Award, given annually to the top pitcher in either league.[33]

Ohtani led the league in wins and winning percentage with a 15–5 record in just 22 starts, and his 2.24 ERA, five complete games, and three shutouts were also best in the league. All these stats were career bests, as were his 196 strikeouts, 0.909 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts per nine innings.[34]

Ohtani was dominant for the Japanese national team in the 2015 Premier 12. He hit 100 mph while blowing away eventual champion South Korea (10 K, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 R in 6 IP) before Norimoto relieved. Facing South Korea again in the semifinals, he was even sharper (11 K, 0 BB, 1 HB, 1 H in 7 IP). He did not give up a hit until Keun-woo Jeong singled in the seventh inning and had the most whiffs in a game for the first Premier 12 ever.[35] Norimoto relieved with a 3–0 lead but he and two other relievers combined to allow four in the 9th to blow it as Japan fell in a shocking defeat. He led the event in ERA (Scott Diamond had 12 innings with a 0.00 ERA to Ohtani's 13) and strikeouts (one ahead of Chun-Lin Kuo) while allowing the lowest average by a starting pitcher. He was named the All-Star SP for the event (Sho Nakata was the only other member of Samurai Japan to be picked for the All-Star team).

Pacific League Most Valuable Player and first Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize (2016)

In 104 games and 382 plate appearances in 2016, Ohtani hit 22 home runs. He also hit 18 doubles, 67 RBI, batted .322 with an OBP of .416, scored 65 runs and had seven stolen bases. He won the Best Nine award as the designated hitter.[36] Ohtani was the same dominant pitcher on the mound. In 21 games pitched, he had a career low in ERA at 1.86. He had a 10–4 record, struck out 174 batters in 140 innings with 4 complete games and one shutout. He also won the Best Nine award as a pitcher and won the Pacific League MVP. He got nearly double as many votes as any other pitcher for the PL for the 2016 NPB All-Star Game; he had 300,025 while #2 Shota Takeda had 158,008.[37] He could not pitch in the event due to a blister on his finger but wound up starring as a designated hitter (DH).[38] In Game 1, he batted for DH Yuya Hasegawa and lined out in the 8th against Scott Mathieson. Starting at DH and hitting 5th in Game 2, he homered off Shoichi Ino in the 5th to start the PL comeback from a 3–0 deficit. He singled against Ryo Akiyoshi in the 7th and scored on a hit by Kenta Imamiya for a 4–3 lead. Coming up with a 5–4 deficit in the 8th, he singled off Shinji Tajima to bring in Shogo Akiyama with the tying run. He thus produced three of the PL's five runs in the 5–5 tie, earning him game MVP honors. He hit 165 km/h (102.5 mph) on the radar gun during the year, setting a new NPB record.[39]

He finished the year at .322/.416/.588 with 22 home runs in 382 plate appearances on offense and a 10–4 record and 1.86 ERA on the mound with 174 strikeouts in 140 innings. He tied for 8th in the PL in wins and was third in strikeouts (behind Norimoto and Kodai Senga).[40]

He led Nippon Ham to the 2016 Japan Series, but lost the opener to the Hiroshima Carp; he fanned 11 in 6 innings but allowed 3 runs, two on a homer by Brad Eldred and one on a steal of home by Seiya Suzuki. Down 2 games to 0, he came up big as the DH in Game 3, getting three hits, a run, and an RBI. In the bottom of the 10th, he singled off Daichi Osera score Nishikawa with the winner; Nippon Ham would take the next three games to win their second Japan Series title. Teammate Brandon Laird would win the Series MVP. Ohtani hit .375/.412/.625 with four doubles, doing more on offense than on the mound for the Series.[41]

He made the Best Nine as the top pitcher and top DH in the PL. He became the first player to receive the awards as both a pitcher and a hitter.[42] He topped four-time Cuban MVP Alfredo Despaigne easily at DH (190 votes to 47; three others combined for eight votes) but the vote at pitcher was closer (he had 111 of 245 votes, Ishikawa 69 and Tsuyoshi Wada 61). He was the runaway winner of the 2016 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award, getting 253 of 254 first-place votes (Naoki Miyanishi got the other one) and one second-place vote. He had 1,268 vote points, to 298 for runner-up Laird.[43]

2017

In 2017, he played in 65 games, hitting .332 with eight homers and 31 RBIs while posting a 3–2 record, a 3.20 ERA, and 29 strikeouts as a pitcher.[44] In September, it was revealed that Ohtani would ask to be posted at the end of the season in order to play in Major League Baseball in 2018. However, before that could happen, he had surgery on his right ankle in early October. The injury had originally occurred in the 2016 Japan Series, and had cost him a chance to play in the 2017 World Baseball Classic in addition to restricting his playing time during the season.[45][46] On November 21, 2017, MLB and NPB came to a posting agreement for Ohtani.[47]

Because he was under 25 years old, Ohtani was subjected to international signing rules. This capped his bonus at $3.557 million and limited him to a rookie salary scale, while the signing team also had to pay a $20 million posting fee to the Fighters. Ohtani narrowed his finalists to seven teams, signing with the Angels for a $2.315 million bonus.[48]

Los Angeles Angels

See also: 2017 Los Angeles Angels season

On December 8, 2017, Ohtani agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Angels. The deal was finalized the next day.[49] On December 13, it was revealed that Ohtani was diagnosed with a first-degree UCL sprain in his right elbow. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat the injury.[50]

2018: AL Rookie of the Year

See also: 2018 Los Angeles Angels season
 
Ohtani pitching in 2018

Prior to the start of the season, the Angels announced that they would continue to use Ohtani as both a hitter and a pitcher.[51] Ohtani started as the designated hitter on Opening Day, March 29, against the Oakland Athletics, singling in his first at-bat.[52] On April 1, he made his pitching debut, striking out six batters in six innings while allowing three runs, to pick up his first MLB win.[53] On April 3, Ohtani hit his first MLB home run, a 397-foot three-run homer against Josh Tomlin.[54] On April 6, he hit his third home run in three days, becoming the first Angels rookie to do so.[55] In only his second start on the mound on April 8, Ohtani took a perfect game through 6⅓ innings before allowing a hit. Overall, Ohtani pitched seven scoreless innings while striking out 12.[56] Making his third start pitching on April 18 against the Boston Red Sox, Ohtani exited after two innings due to a blister on his right middle finger.[57] On June 6, Ohtani left the game after a blister on the same finger. Two days later, he was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his MLB career due to a Grade 2 UCL sprain in his right elbow. He received platelet-rich plasma and stem-cell injections to treat the injury.[58]

Ohtani was activated from the disabled list as a hitter on July 2, and went 0-for-4 against the Seattle Mariners.[59] On August 3, Ohtani hit two home runs against the Cleveland Indians, marking his first career multiple-home run game and his first two home runs in a road game.[60]

After Ohtani had not pitched for 11 weeks, Angels manager Mike Scioscia announced that Ohtani would start the game against the Houston Astros on September 2.[61] On September 7, Ohtani broke the MLB home run record by a Japanese rookie when he hit his 19th home run for the season.[62]

Ohtani ended his first major league season with a batting average of .285, a .361 on-base-percentage, 22 home runs, 61 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases. In 10 starts on the mound, he notched a 4–2 record with a 3.31 ERA, 1.16 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) and 63 strikeouts.[63] His .564 slugging percentage ranked seventh overall among MLB players with at least 350 plate appearances for this season. He became the second-fastest Angels rookie to reach 20 home runs, and he joined Babe Ruth as the only MLB players with 10 pitching appearances and 20 homers in a season.[64] He also won the American League Rookie of the Month award twice; in April and in September.[65]

On September 3, 2018, ESPN announced that doctors recommended that Ohtani undergo Tommy John surgery, after an MRI showed new damage to his UCL.[66] The Angels announced on September 25 that Ohtani had agreed to the procedure, which would keep him off the mound until 2020.[67] On October 1, Angels general manager Billy Eppler announced that Ohtani underwent successful Tommy John surgery.[63] On November 12, he was named the American League Rookie of the Year.[68]

2019

 
Ohtani batting in 2019
See also: 2019 Los Angeles Angels season

On May 7, 2019, Ohtani played in his first game with the Angels since undergoing Tommy John surgery, batting as a designated hitter against the Detroit Tigers.[69] In a June 13 game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Ohtani became the first Japanese-born player to hit for the cycle in MLB history.[70] On September 12, Ohtani's 2019 season prematurely ended after it was revealed that he needed surgery to repair a bipartite patella. He finished the season batting .286/.343/.505 with 18 home runs, 62 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases in 106 games.[71]

2020

See also: 2020 Los Angeles Angels season

The 2020 MLB season did not start until July 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[72] On July 24, 2020, Ohtani was the first ever automatic player on second base in an official MLB game at the start of the 10th inning as part of one of the new 2020 MLB season rules in a game against the Oakland Athletics. He was thrown out in a rundown.[73]

On July 26, 2020, Ohtani returned to the mound against the Oakland Athletics, making his first pitching appearance since September 2018. He allowed five runs and was removed from the mound without recording an out, starting his season with a loss and an infinite ERA.[74] After his second start of the season against the Houston Astros, Ohtani began to experience discomfort in his right arm, and it was eventually revealed that he had a flexor strain in his right elbow after undergoing an MRI.[75] Angels manager Joe Maddon later stated that Ohtani would not pitch for the rest of the season.[76]

On the offensive side, Ohtani finished the season batting .190/.291/.366 with seven home runs, 24 RBIs, and seven stolen bases in 43 games.[77] The culmination of experiencing injuries in his 2019 and 2020 campaigns led to Ohtani describing feeling "frustrated" and "useless". He went on to say that while his 2019 had been disappointing, his 2020 had been "more like pathetic", because he could not pitch or hit the way he wanted to. Ohtani said, "[Until 2019], I could more or less do the things I wanted to do. I'd pretty much never experienced the feeling of wanting to do something but being completely unable to do it."[78]

2021: AL MVP

See also: 2021 Los Angeles Angels season

After the results of the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Ohtani spent the offseason overhauling himself.[78][79] He adjusted his diet based on blood-sample analysis and started squatting heavily again, focusing on strengthening his lower half and bulking up to 225 pounds.[78][79] He threw bullpen sessions earlier than usual and took batting practice against live pitching, an offseason first for him.[78][79] Ohtani also embraced data and technology to optimize his training and recovery by visiting Driveline Baseball, a popular player-development destination for underperforming pitchers, where he also tinkered with a changeup.[78] Furthermore, in spring training, the Angels general manager Perry Minasian, manager Joe Maddon, and Ohtani agreed to allow Ohtani to play without limitations or restrictions and drop the "Ohtani Rules",[80] a plan the Angels mirrored from Ohtani's schedule in Japan and had implemented since his 2018 rookie season that restricted his usage to a schedule of pitching once a week and hitting only three to four times between starts.[79] Free of the "Ohtani Rules", Ohtani would be in charge of his own daily diagnostics with Maddon to determine his pitching and hitting schedule.[10]

On February 8, Ohtani agreed to a two-year $8.5 million contract with the Angels, avoiding arbitration.[81]

In his first pitching start against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday Night Baseball on April 4, 2021, he threw 4⅔ innings, allowing one earned run and two unearned runs. During that start, he struck out seven batters.[82] Additionally, Ohtani batted second in the lineup.[83] He went 1-for-3, hitting a 450-foot solo home run on the first pitch he faced.

After skipping a scheduled start against the Toronto Blue Jays due to a blister,[84] Ohtani made his second start of the season on April 20, against the Texas Rangers. Under a 75-pitch limit, he threw four scoreless innings, striking out seven batters and allowing one hit.[85] In his third start on April 26, once again against the Texas Rangers, Ohtani collected his first win of the season. He pitched five innings, allowing four runs in the first inning and striking out nine. Offensively, he went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Ohtani also became the first player in nearly 100 years to start a game on the mound while also entering the day leading the Majors in home runs. Such an event had not occurred since Babe Ruth took the mound as starting pitcher for the Yankees on June 13, 1921, leading the AL with 19 home runs.[86][87]

All-Star debut

On June 18, Ohtani was elected to the 2021 Home Run Derby, becoming both the first pitcher and the first Japanese player to do so.[88] Three days later, Ohtani was named AL Player of the Week for the third time in his career after hitting six home runs and picking up a win as starting pitcher.[89] Two weeks later, he was again named AL Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career after hitting six home runs and recording a 1.543 OPS with eight RBIs in six games to help the Angels go 5–1.[90] On June 23, he made history yet again as he hit for himself as a pitcher and the second batter in the lineup against the Giants with designated hitter rules in place, making it the first time in MLB history that an American League team chose not to use a DH while a National League team utilized one.[91]

For the first time in his career, Ohtani was named the American League Player of the Month for June, as he hit .309/.423/.889 with 13 home runs and a 1.312 OPS as a hitter and earned two wins as a pitcher.[92] On July 3 against the Baltimore Orioles, Ohtani became the first player in American League history to reach 30 home runs and 10 stolen bases in the first 81 games of the season.[93]

On July 4, Ohtani made history by becoming the first player to be selected as an All-Star as both a position player and a pitcher.[94] He had already been selected as the starting designated hitter by the fans for the 2021 All-Star Game on July 1,[95] while being voted by the players as one of five starting pitchers to make the American League roster on July 4.[94] On July 7, Ohtani hit his 32nd home run of the year, a solo shot off of Boston Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodríguez, passing Hideki Matsui's mark in 2004, for the most home runs hit during a season by a Japanese-born player in MLB.[96] Additionally, Ohtani won the Best Major League Baseball Player ESPY Award, becoming the first Japanese player to win the award.[97]

Ohtani participated in the Home Run Derby on July 12. In the first round, he hit 22 home runs, tying him with opponent Juan Soto. A tiebreaker round saw Ohtani and Soto tied again at 28 home runs. While Soto won the round after a second tiebreaker, Ohtani set a record for the most home runs in the Derby of at least 500 feet with six.[98][99] For participating in the Derby, Ohtani received $150,000, which he proceeded to donate his earnings to approximately 30 Angels support employees to thank them for their work, which included trainers, clubhouse workers and media relations staffers. Ohtani had decided that he was going to use the money in this manner no matter what his Derby outcome was.[100]

On July 13, Ohtani made All-Star Game history again as the starting pitcher and leadoff designated hitter for the American League.[101] After pitching a perfect first inning, he also became the first player in major league history to compete in the Home Run Derby and earn a win as the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game.

Two-way season
 
 
Ohtani in September 2021 against the Texas Rangers

On July 26, in his 15th pitching start of the season against the Colorado Rockies, Ohtani became the first pitcher in league history to register 100 strikeouts while holding a major-league-leading 35 home runs before the end of July, as no pitcher had ever recorded triple-digit strikeouts and added more than nine home runs in the same season.[102] Additionally, in the same game, Ohtani became the first pitcher to throw a scoreless top half and record a hit, a RBI, a stolen base and a scored run while playing in an AL ballpark since Luis Tiant did so for the Minnesota Twins on April 26, 1970.[103]

Ohtani would finish the month of July as the first player in Major League history to ever have at least 37 home runs and 15 stolen bases before the end of July.[104] And for the second straight month, Ohtani also earned his second American League Player of the Month Award, becoming the first back-to-back Player of the Month Award winner in either league since Chase Headley in August and September 2012, and the first in the AL since Josh Hamilton in 2012. For the month of July, he produced nine home runs, 19 RBIs, 16 walks and a .282/.396/.671 slash line in 23 games at the plate, and a 1.35 ERA with 17 strikeouts and one walk in 20 innings.[105]

On August 18, Ohtani pitched a dominant 8 innings against the Detroit Tigers, setting a career high by throwing 90 pitches to record 24 outs in eight innings while also hitting a solo homer for his 40th of the year in the eighth inning to lead the Angels to a 3–1 win. He became the first left-handed batter in Angels history to reach 40 home runs, surpassing lefty Reggie Jackson's 1982 record of 39. He also became just the fourth AL pitcher to throw at least eight innings and hit a homer in a game since the DH was instituted in 1973, joining Jon Garland in June 2006, Kris Benson in June 2006, and Bobby Witt in June 1997.[106]

Ohtani would cap off the month of August by stealing his 20th base in a game on August 28 against the San Diego Padres, becoming the first Japanese-born player[107] and the first player in Angels history to hit 40 home runs and have 20 stolen bases in the same season. He joined Alex Rodriguez in 2007 and Ken Griffey Jr. in 1999 as the 3rd AL player to accomplish this feat before September. He also became the first AL player to reach both of those totals in a season since Curtis Granderson in 2011.[108]

On September 21, after hitting his 45th home run of the season, Ohtani became the first player to hit at least 45 homers and steal 20 bases in a season since Alex Rodriguez in 2007.[109] And on September 25, Ohtani joined Willie Mays as the only players with at least 45 home runs, 20 stolen bases and six triples in a season,[110] when he hit two triples in consecutive plate appearances, becoming the first Angels player to do so since Peter Bourjos in April 2011.[111]

From September 22 to 25, Ohtani drew 13 walks in a 4-game span, tying an AL/NL record set by Babe Ruth in 1930, Bryce Harper in 2016, and Yasmani Grandal in 2021. He drew a career-high four walks on September 22 and three walks on September 23, against the Houston Astros, followed by four more walks on September 24 and two walks on September 25 against the Seattle Mariners.[111] His 11 walks drawn in the three game span also tied the MLB record set by Harper in 2016.[112]

MVP award and other honors

The Angels announced on September 25 that Ohtani was named as both the team's Los Angeles Angels Player of the Year of 2021 and the team's Nick Adenhart Pitcher of the Year Award, as voted by his teammates.[113]

On September 26, Ohtani reached the 150-strikeout milestone against the Seattle Mariners and finished the year unbeaten at home, going 6–0 with a 1.95 ERA in 13 starts. Ohtani's home ERA was the lowest by an Angels starter since Jered Weaver in 2011. He also became the sixth starter in AL or NL history to make at least 13 home starts without a losing decision and an ERA below 2.00 in a season.[114] In the last game of the season against the Seattle Mariners, Ohtani passed teammate Mike Trout's 45 home runs in a single season to finish with the second-most home runs in a season in Angels history at 46, trailing only Troy Glaus' 47 home runs in 2000.[115]

For the year, Ohtani finished his pitching campaign by making 23 starts on the mound, going 9–2 with a 3.18 ERA, 156 strikeouts, 1.09 WHIP and 44 walks in 130 1/3 innings.[115] On the hitting side, Ohtani finished with an American League-leading 20 intentional walks, which was the most by an AL player since Mike Trout in 2018. Ohtani, who batted .257/.372/.592, including 46 home runs — runner-up for the MLB lead in homers, 100 RBI, 103 runs and 26 steals in 155 games and 639 plate appearances, hit several milestones to close his season, reaching both 100 RBIs and 100 runs for the first time in his career. He also tied for the MLB lead with eight triples to go along with 26 stolen bases. Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have at least 45 homers, 25 stolen bases, 100 RBIs, 100 runs, and eight triples in a season and the second player in AL history to record at least 45 homers and 25 stolen bases in a season, joining Jose Canseco in 1998.[115] According to Baseball-Reference.com, Ohtani led the league with a wins above replacement (WAR) value of 9.1 and finished third in home runs (46), fourth in slugging percentage (.592), fifth in OPS (.965), first in triples (eight), fifth in drawing walks (96), eight in stolen bases (26), second in extra base hits (80), second in intentional walks (20), fifth in OPS+ (158), and first in power-speed number (33.2).[116]

Ohtani was unanimously voted the American League Most Valuable Player, becoming the 23rd pitcher and first designated hitter to win the award.[117][118] For the 2021 All-MLB Team, Ohtani is the only player to be named to both teams, first team and second team, in the same season (as a designated hitter and starting pitcher respectively).[119] He became the first pitcher, the first Japanese player and the first Angels player to win the Edgar Martínez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.[120][121] Ohtani was also awarded the Silver Slugger Award for being the best offensive player at the designated hitter position in the American League,[122] and was named to Time 100's list of most influential people of 2021,[123] which culminated to many end-of-the-season-accolades. He was named Associated Press AP Athlete of the Year,[124] Sporting News Athlete of the Year,[125] Baseball Digest Player of the Year[126] and Baseball America Major League Player of the Year.[127] From his MLB peers he was given Sporting News Player of the Year Award,[128] Players Choice Player of the Year Award, and Players Choice American League Outstanding Player Award.[129]

Additionally, Ohtani's 2021 season was recognized for two Guinness World Records titles: (1) the first MLB player to achieve 100+ innings and record 100+ strikeouts as a pitcher, and 100+ RBIs, hits and runs as a batter in a single season and (2) the first player to start the MLB All-Star Game as a pitcher and a designated hitter.[130] He also became the 16th recipient of the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award, awarded by Commissioner Rob Manfred,[3] who formally recognized Ohtani's 2021 season as "historically significant" and "unprecedented", calling it "so special that it was important to recognize the historic achievement that took place in 2021 with an award just about 2021."[3] Ohtani was offered Japan's national honor, the People's Honour Award, by the Prime Minister of Japan in recognition of his accomplishments, but Ohtani rejected it, saying it was "still too early" for such an award.[131]

On December 22, 2021, Sporting News released the article "The 50 greatest seasons in sports history, ranked". In it, Ohtani's 2021 season was ranked No.1, topping great seasons by athletes such as Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, and Lionel Messi.[132]

2022

 
Ohtani batting in 2022

On March 22, 2022, Major League Baseball introduced a new rule that allows for a pitcher in the batting order to remain in the game as a designated hitter after they are pulled from the pitching mound. The rule was colloquially dubbed the "Ohtani rule" because of Ohtani's unique prowess as a two-way player.[133] The rule will enable Ohtani to remain in the game after he is done pitching at his customary designated hitter spot instead of being switched to a defensive position like the outfield, something that he did seven times in 2021.[134]

On March 25, Ohtani was named as the Opening Day starter for the Angels' 2022 season.[135] He pitched 4+2⁄3 innings against the Houston Astros, allowing one earned run and one walk while striking out 9.[136] He became the first player in MLB history to start Opening Day as both the starting pitcher and the leadoff hitter.[137] During a game against the Astros on April 20, Ohtani batted twice in the top of the first inning, becoming the first starting pitcher to do so since at least 1900. In the same game, Ohtani pitched 5+1⁄3 perfect innings before giving up a single to former teammate Jason Castro, the only hit of the game for Houston. Ohtani finished the game at 6 innings pitched with 1 hit, no runs, and 1 walk surrendered and 12 strikeouts, tying his career high. On offense, he went 2–4 with a run and 2 RBIs.[138] Pitching against the Texas Rangers on April 14, Ohtani gave up his first-ever career grand slam against Jonah Heim in an eventual 10–5 loss by the Angels. Coincidentally, it was also the first-ever grand slam hit by Heim.[139]

Against the Boston Red Sox on May 5, 2022, Ohtani, while hitting third and making his first career start on the mound at Fenway Park, became the first starting pitcher to bat in one of the top four spots in a game at Fenway since Babe Ruth did so on September 20, 1919. He threw seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts in the Angels' 8–0 victory over the Red Sox, while also going 2-for-4 from the plate and a RBI single in the eighth inning to become the second starting pitcher to ever record a hit at Fenway after Roger Clemens in 1996, since the implementation of the designated hitter in 1973.[140] His induced 29 swings and misses became the most registered number of swings and misses in a game for 2022.[141]

Ohtani recorded two home runs, including a grand slam, on May 9, 2022, against the Tampa Bay Rays, marking the second time of the 2022 season and the eighth time in his career for Ohtani to record a multi-homer game, surpassing Ichiro Suzuki for the most by a Japanese-born player in MLB history,[142] while also going 3-for-4 and a career-high five RBIs. The grand slam was the first of his professional career, including both NPB and MLB.[143] On May 14, 2022, Ohtani hit his 100th career MLB home run, making him the third Japanese-born player with at least 100 homers in the majors, trailing only Hideki Matsui with 175 and Ichiro Suzuki with 117. Ohtani also joined Babe Ruth as the only players with at least 100 home runs and at least 250 strikeouts as a pitcher.[144]

On June 9, 2022, Ohtani hit a go-ahead two-run home run and pitched seven innings, including throwing a 101 mph fastball to strike out Rafael Devers to end the third – the hardest strikeout pitch of his career, in a 5–2 win over the Boston Red Sox to end the Angels' 14-game losing streak, the longest in franchise history.[145] The victory resulted in a six game pitching span from June 9 to July 13, where Ohtani went 6–0 with a 0.45 ERA (39.2 IP & 2 ER) and 58 strikeouts, (while also hitting eight HR with a .997 OPS), while becoming the fourth pitcher all-time to go 6–0 with 58+ SO and 2-or-fewer ER in a six-game span, joining Cy Young winners Johan Santana (2004), R.A. Dickey (2012) and Clayton Kershaw (2014).[141]

In a two game span from June 21–22, 2022, Ohtani made MLB history by becoming the first player in the American League or National League to have at least eight RBIs in a game and strike out at least 10 batters the next day.[146] On June 21, Ohtani hit a pair of three-run homers and set a career-high with eight RBIs, becoming the first player born in Japan to have eight RBI in a game and just the eighth player in Angels history to have eight RBIs in a game. Ohtani's eight RBIs were the most by an Angels player since Garret Anderson had a franchise-record 10 RBIs against the New York Yankees on August 21, 2007. It was also the most RBIs in a game by a Japanese-born player, surpassing seven-RBI games from Hideki Matsui in 2009 and Tadahito Iguchi in 2006.[147] The following day, Ohtani set another career high with 13 strikeouts over eight scoreless innings to help lift the Angels to a 5–0 win over the Kansas City Royals, becoming the 19th player in Angels history with 13 strikeouts in a game and the first since Patrick Sandoval on July 24, 2021, against the Minnesota Twins. [146]

On July 6, 2022, against the Miami Marlins, Ohtani made MLB history again by becoming the first player since RBI became an official statistic in 1920 to record 10 strikeouts as a pitcher, two RBIs as a batter, and a stolen base all in a single game.[148] His 111 strikeouts over 81 innings pitched in the game made him the first Angels pitcher to record 110 K's in the first half in fewer than 100 innings and the first Angels pitcher to 110 K's in the first half since Garrett Richards in 2014. He also became the fourth Angels player with multiple seasons of 15 home runs and 10 stolen bases prior to the All-Star break and the eighth Major Leaguer since earned runs were official in 1913 to record 40-plus strikeouts and zero earned runs in a four-start span.[148]

2nd All-Star

For a second straight year, Ohtani was voted in to the All-Star Game by fans as the starter at the designated hitter position on July 8[149] and on July 10 he was selected as a starting pitcher again, making history as the only player to be selected as an All-Star as both a position player and a pitcher twice.[150] Ohtani announced; however, that he would only participate as a hitter in the All Star Game, even though he was considered as a candidate to start for the AL team. Ohtani declined to pitch, citing a scheduling conflict and his preference to "prioritize the season over the All-Star Game."[151]

In a game against the Oakland Athletics where he pitched and hit, Ohtani completed three historical feats on August 9, 2022. Ohtani joined Babe Ruth in an exclusive 10-homer, 10-win club; moved up on the all-time home run list for Japanese-born players; and set a single-season career high in strikeouts. Ohtani tossed six scoreless innings to earn his 10th win of the season for the first time in his Major League career. He and Babe Ruth are the only two players in AL and NL history to win at least 10 games on the mound and hit at least 10 home runs in the same season. Ed Rile and Bullet Rogan also accomplished this feat in the Negro leagues as well. Ohtani's 25th home run of the season was his 118th career home run, which surpassed Ichiro Suzuki's 117 career home runs to become second place on the all-time Major League home run list for Japanese-born players. Ohtani's five strikeouts in the game brought him to 157 on the season, a new single-season high eclipsing his 2021 total of 156. Combined with his playing days in Nippon Professional Baseball, Ohtani reached 1,000 strikeouts between NPB (624) and MLB (379).[152]

Against the New York Yankees on August 30, Ohtani launched a go-ahead three-run home run off Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in the sixth inning to become the only player in MLB history with 10+ pitching wins and 30+ HR in the same season.[153] Ohtani had a career-best, team-leading 18-game hit streak that began on September 14 and ended on October 3.[141]

The Angels avoided arbitration with Ohtani on October 1, signing Ohtani to a one-year deal worth $30 million for the 2023 season. At $30 million, the deal set a new record for a player in his third year of arbitration, surpassing the $27 million Mookie Betts received before the 2020 season and also gives Ohtani the biggest salary raise of any arbitration-eligible player; a $24.5 million raise from his 2022 salary of $5.5 million and $3 million of 2021.[154]

On October 5, Ohtani pitched five innings in a loss to the Oakland Athletics, becoming the first player in the modern era to qualify for both the hitting and pitching leaderboards in one season, reaching the limits of 3.1 plate appearances and one inning pitched per game.[4]

Ohtani finished his 2022 season with a 15–9 record, a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings. He also hit .273/.356/.519 with 34 homers, 30 doubles, 11 stolen bases, and 95 RBIs in 157 games. Among AL pitchers, Ohtani finished the year first in SO/9 innings rate (11.87), third in strikeouts (219), fourth in ERA (2.33) and tied for fourth in wins (15), while amongst AL hitters, Ohtani ranked fourth in homers (34), fifth in OPS (.875), fifth in total bases (304), third in intentional walks (14), tied for third in extra-base hits (70), fifth in slugging (.519), tied for fourth in triples (6), seventh in RBIs (95), seventh in walks (72), and tied for eighth in runs (90).[4] Ohtani also led the majors with a home-to-first average time of 4.09 seconds, and was the only player in the majors to tally at least six triples and 34 home runs in 2022 (making him the only player to do so in a second consecutive year).[141] He hit a ball with the highest exit velocity in major league baseball for the season, at 119.1 mph.[155] He also had the fastest speed running from home plate to first base, at 4.09 seconds.[156]

The Angels announced that Ohtani was once again named as both the team's Los Angeles Angels Player of the Year of 2022 and the team's Nick Adenhart Pitcher of the Year Award, as voted by his teammates.[154]

Additionally in October, the term "Ohtani rule" was added to Dictionary.com as an official entry in their lexicon.[141][157]

International career

2012 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup

Ohtani was selected to Japan's Under-18 National Team that eventually finished in sixth place at the 2012 18U Baseball World Championship 18U Baseball World Championship in Seoul.[158]

2015 WBSC Premier12

In the 2015 Premier12, Ohtani earned a bronze medal with the Samurai Japan National Baseball Team. He was the ace of Japan's pitching staff, which featured Kenta Maeda. As the number one starter, Ohtani made two pitching appearances for Japan, both against the Republic of Korea, winning Game 1 of the opening round and getting a no-decision in the semifinals. Ohtani was subsequently named to the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation All-World Team and was named the 2015 WBSC Baseball Player of the Year.[159]

2017 World Baseball Classic

Ohtani was on the 28-man roster for the Japan National Baseball Team of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, but was forced to withdraw due to an ankle injury.[160]

2023 World Baseball Classic

Ohtani played for the Japan National Baseball Team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.[161] He was named the Pool B MVP for his hitting and pitching performances in the group stage of the tournament.[162] He earned the save in the championship game and won the tournament's MVP award after batting .435 and pitching to a 1.86 ERA.[163]

Awards and achievements

Awards and exhibition team selections

MLB
Media

Statistical achievements

American League statistical leader
Category Times Seasons
Intentional base on balls leader 1 2021
Triples leader 1 2021
At bats per home run leader 1 2021
Power–speed number leader 1 2021
Wins above replacement leader 1 2021
Win probability added leader 1 2021
Strikeouts per nine innings pitched leader 1 2022
Notes:
Per Baseball-Reference.com. Through 2022 season.

Playing style

Pitching

Ohtani is a 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m), 210-pound (95 kg) right-handed starting pitcher.[164] With an overhand delivery,[165] he throws a four-seam fastball averaging 97 miles per hour (156 km/h)[164] topping out at 102.5 mph (165 km/h),[166] an 86–88-mile-per-hour (138–142 km/h) forkball/split-finger fastball[167][168] with late diving action,[169] an occasional curveball, and a solid slider at 82–84 miles per hour (132–135 km/h).[170] He posted a walks per nine innings rate of 3.3 across his NPB career.[171] Ohtani has been compared to Justin Verlander by some MLB scouts[172] with his ability and affinity to throwing harder in high-leverage spots and later in games.[173] Whereas most pitchers throw only a little harder in big spots than they do in normal ones and most pitchers lose speed as the game goes on, Ohtani, like Verlander, are both able to reserve power and staying power in order to conserve energy without throwing max effort on every offering.[173]

Batting and fielding

Ohtani is a left-handed batter. He is a designated hitter and occasional outfielder known for being able to hit with homerun power.[116] As a baserunner, Ohtani's sprint speed and feet-first sliding technique have allowed him to be a league leader in stolen bases, bunt hits and infield-hit rate.[173] Scouts have timed Ohtani running from the batter's box to first base in as little as 3.8 seconds.[174] For the 2021 season, his 28.8 feet-per-second sprint speed ranked in the 92nd percentile of all players, as did his 3.51 second 80-foot split[175] and he also recorded the fastest home to first average sprint time in the Majors at 4.09 seconds,[173][176] while recording a career-high 26 stolen bases.[115]

 
Shinzo Abe awarding Shohei Ohtani the Prime Minister Trophy at the 2018 Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize Award Ceremony

Personal life

Since gaining national and international attention as a high school phenom, Ohtani is one of Japan's most celebrated athletes[6] and has faced intense media pressure scrutiny with the Japanese press his whole adult life.[21] Due to the high-profile nature of his two-way efforts, the Fighters protected Ohtani from some of the media onslaught, while Ohtani tended to keep to the team dormitory and the gym, leading a semi-monastic, baseball-centric existence, a byproduct for holding down two jobs in the big leagues and doing both at an elite level.[21]

While not fluent, Ohtani can speak English and knows Spanish, but prefers to speak to the media through an interpreter, translating his native Japanese to English.[177] Ippei Mizuhara is Ohtani's personal interpreter with the Los Angeles Angels and has known him since Ohtani was 18, starting in 2013 during Ohtani's days with the Fighters.[178] Mizuhara's role as Ohtani's personal interpreter ranges from confidante to conditioning coach and throwing partner, to making sure Ohtani understands, and is understood.[179] The interpreter steps into any number of sub-duties, including Ohtani's agenda—preparation, play, recovery, media availability, breaking down advanced analytics and recovery timetables between Ohtani and the Angels organization.[179] After Ohtani joined the Angels, Mizuhara suggested to Ohtani, as an icebreaker, to combine his hobby of playing video games by downloading Clash Royale with the rest of the clubhouse.[179][180]

When Ohtani announced in September 2017 that he wanted to pursue a career in MLB,[44] he signed with CAA Sports for representation. Ohtani is represented by agent Nez Balelo of CAA Sports since 2017.[181] Ohtani was listed in Forbes 30 under 30 Asia class of 2018 in the field of Entertainment & Sports.[182]

For his historic campaign in 2021, Ohtani was named to Time 100's list of most influential people of 2021 [123] and awarded the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award by Commissioner Rob Manfred.[3] Additionally, Ohtani's 2021 season was recognized for two Guinness World Records titles: (1) the first MLB player to achieve 100+ innings and record 100+ strikeouts as a pitcher, and 100+ RBIs, hits and runs as a batter in a single season and (2) the first player to start the MLB All-Star Game as a pitcher and a designated hitter.[130] Ohtani was also offered Japan's national honor, the People's Honour Award, by the Prime Minister of Japan in recognition of his accomplishments, but Ohtani rejected it, saying it was "still too early" for such an award.[131]

Endorsements

In August 2022, Ohtani became a brand ambassador for Porsche Japan as part of their 'Porsche Driving Athlete' family.[183]

As of April 2022, Ohtani endorsement earnings tripled from 2021 to an estimated MLB league-leading $20 million off the field, proving to be a marketing hit on both sides of the Pacific, with a group of 15 partnerships that included renewals among his partners Fanatics, Topps and Panini in the U.S. and Asics, Descente and Hugo Boss in Japan, as well as new deals with FTX, Kowa, Mitsubishi Bank and Salesforce.[184]

Ohtani is the cover athlete of MLB The Show 22[185] and is the first Asian player to be featured as the cover star of MLB: The Show.[186] On February 9, 2022, Ohtani appeared in the Nintendo Direct to promote MLB The Show 22, as it was the first installment in the franchise to appear on a Nintendo console. In the direct, two versions of Ohtani, one in hitting gear, the other in pitching gear, stood side by side holding devices. The use of Ohtani to promote it was seen as tying to his Japanese nationality, as Nintendo is based in Japan.[187]

On July 20, 2021, Ohtani signed an exclusive multiyear memorabilia deal with Fanatics.[188]

In 2021, Ohtani had an estimated MLB league-leading $6 million in annual endorsement deals, which included Asics, Descente, Japan Airlines, Nishikawa Co., and Seiko Watch in Japan and Hugo Boss, New Era, Panini, Fanatics, Oakley and Topps in the United States.[189] On November 16, 2021, it was announced that Ohtani joined cryptocurrency exchange FTX as a global ambassador,[190] partnering on various animal charitable initiatives.[191] In November 2022, FTX filed for bankruptcy, wiping out billions of dollars in customer funds. Ohtani, alongside other spokespeople, is currently being sued for promoting unregistered securities through a class-action lawsuit.[192][193] In February 2022, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit against Bitconnect that the Securities Act of 1933 extends to targeted solicitation using social media.[194]

In 2023, it was announced that Ohtani was now an ambassador for New Balance, and would wear their gear on the field. Ohtani had previously worn exclusive Asics gear on field, before making the transition to New Balance.[195]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ As both a designated hitter and a starting pitcher
  2. ^ As a designated hitter
  3. ^ As a starting pitcher
  4. ^ As a starting pitcher
  5. ^ As a designated hitter

References

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Further reading

  • Wertheim, Jon (June 20, 2021). "Shohei Ohtani: Japan's Babe Ruth". CBS News. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  • Miller, Doug (November 29, 2017). "A Look at the History of Shohei Ohtani". MLB.
  • Keown, Tim (April 6, 2018). "The One Baseball's Been Waiting For". ESPN. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  • Lindbergh, Ben (July 12, 2021). "Inside Shohei Ohtani's Superhero Origin Story". The Ringer. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  • Lindbergh, Ben (October 5, 2021). "Ten Stats That Sum Up Shohei Ohtani's Historic 2021 Season". The Ringer. Retrieved October 27, 2021.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shohei Ohtani.
  • Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
  • Shohei Ohtani on Instagram
Achievements
Preceded by Hitting for the cycle
June 13, 2019 		Succeeded by
Awards
Preceded by American League Player of the Month
June & July 2021 		Succeeded by

March 23, 2023
shohei, ohtani, ohtani, redirects, here, other, people, with, surname, Ōtani, this, article, expanded, with, text, translated, from, corresponding, article, japanese, september, 2022, click, show, important, translation, instructions, view, machine, translated. Ohtani redirects here For other people with the surname see Ōtani This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese September 2022 Click show for important translation instructions View a machine translated version of the Japanese article Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 3 337 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at ja 大谷翔平 see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated ja 大谷翔平 to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation Shohei Ohtani 大谷 翔平 Ōtani Shōhei born July 5 1994 nicknamed Shotime 2 is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher designated hitter and outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball MLB He previously played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball s NPB Pacific League Shohei OhtaniOhtani with the Los Angeles Angels in 2022Los Angeles Angels No 17Pitcher Designated hitter OutfielderBorn 1994 07 05 July 5 1994 age 28 Ōshu Iwate JapanBats LeftThrows RightProfessional debutNPB March 29 2013 for the Hokkaidō Nippon Ham FightersMLB March 29 2018 for the Los Angeles AngelsNPB statistics through 2017 season Win loss record42 15Earned run average2 52Strikeouts624Batting average 286Home runs45Runs batted in166MLB statistics through 2022 season Win loss record28 14Earned run average2 96Strikeouts441Batting average 267Home runs127Runs batted in342TeamsHokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 2013 2017 Los Angeles Angels 2018 present Career highlights and awardsNPBJapan Series champion 2016 5 NPB All Star 2013 2017 Pacific League MVP 2016 2 Pacific League Pitcher Best Nine 2015 2016 Designated Hitter Best Nine 2016 Pacific League ERA leader 2015 Pacific League Battery Award with Shota Ono 2015 2 Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize 2016 2018 WBSC Player of the Year 2015 1 MLB2 All Star 2021 2022 a AL MVP 2021 2 All MLB First Team 2021 b 2022 c 2 All MLB Second Team 2021 d 2022 e AL Rookie of the Year 2018 Silver Slugger Award 2021 2 Edgar Martinez Award 2021 2022 AL triples leader 2021 Commissioner s Historic Achievement Award 2021 Hit for the cycle on June 13 2019 AP Athlete of the Year 2021 World Baseball Classic MVP 2023 All World Baseball Classic Team 2023 Medals Men s baseballRepresenting JapanWorld Baseball Classic2023 Miami Team2015 WBSC Premier122015 Tokyo TeamShohei OhtaniOhtani s name in kanjiJapanese nameKanji大谷 翔平Hiraganaおおたに しょうへいTranscriptionsRomanizationŌtani ShōheiOhtani was the first pick of the Fighters in the 2012 draft He played in NPB for the Fighters from 2013 through 2017 as a pitcher and an outfielder On October 16 2016 Ohtani recorded the fastest pitch in NPB history at 165 kilometres per hour 102 5 mph The record was broken by Thyago Vieira five years later but he still holds the Japanese record The Fighters posted Ohtani to MLB after the 2017 season and he signed with the Angels He won the 2018 American League AL Rookie of the Year Award and the 2021 AL Most Valuable Player Award Ohtani s 2021 season was formally recognized as historically significant and a major impact on the sport 3 by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred as he became the first two way player in the history of MLB with 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases as a hitter and 100 strikeouts and 10 pitching appearances as a pitcher in the same season while also holding at least a share of the major league lead in home runs in fourteen starts 3 He was also the first player in MLB history to be an All Star as both a pitcher and a hitter as he was a starter in the 2021 All Star Game in both capacities as the AL s manager selected starting pitcher earning the win and fan elected starting designated hitter as the leadoff hitter 3 In 2022 Ohtani became the first player in the modern era to qualify for both the hitting and pitching leaderboards in one season reaching the limits of 3 1 plate appearances and one inning pitched per game with 586 at bats against 166 innings pitched 4 Contents 1 Early life 2 Amateur career 3 Professional career 3 1 Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 3 1 1 Rookie year 2013 3 1 2 Second NPB All Star selection 2014 3 1 3 Pacific League Pitcher Best Nine and ERA leader 2015 3 1 4 Pacific League Most Valuable Player and first Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize 2016 3 1 5 2017 3 2 Los Angeles Angels 3 2 1 2018 AL Rookie of the Year 3 2 2 2019 3 2 3 2020 3 2 4 2021 AL MVP 3 2 4 1 All Star debut 3 2 4 2 Two way season 3 2 4 3 MVP award and other honors 3 2 5 2022 3 2 5 1 2nd All Star 4 International career 4 1 2012 WBSC U 18 Baseball World Cup 4 2 2015 WBSC Premier12 4 3 2017 World Baseball Classic 4 4 2023 World Baseball Classic 5 Awards and achievements 5 1 Awards and exhibition team selections 5 2 Statistical achievements 6 Playing style 6 1 Pitching 6 2 Batting and fielding 7 Personal life 7 1 Endorsements 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External linksEarly life EditOhtani was born to Kayoko and Toru Ohtani in Ōshu Iwate Japan on July 5 1994 His mother Kayoko was a national level badminton player in high school and his father worked at a local automobile manufacturing plant and was an amateur baseball player who played in the Japanese Industrial League 5 6 The youngest of three children he has one older sister Yuka and one older brother Ryuta who is also an amateur baseball player in the Japanese Industrial League 5 In Japan Ohtani was known as a yakyu shōnen 野球少年 a kid who lives eats and breathes baseball 6 Coached by his father he displayed an aptitude for the game at an early age 7 He began playing baseball in his second year of elementary school and as a seventh grader Ohtani recorded all but one of 18 outs in a six inning regional championship game 5 6 Amateur career EditAs a teenager Ohtani could have played baseball for any powerhouse high school team in big cities such as Osaka or Yokohama 6 Instead he opted to stay local selecting Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate Prefecture Northern Japan 8 the same high school as pitcher Yusei Kikuchi whom he admired 9 Ohtani competed there as a swimmer 10 and played baseball 5 Ohtani s high school baseball coach Hiroshi Sasaki said that he was a fast swimmer who could have made the Olympics 11 Under Sasaki s guidance Hanamaki Higashi s players lived on campus returning home for only six days a year Sasaki would assign toilet cleaning chores to Ohtani to teach the youth pitcher humility 6 Ohtani threw a 160 km h 99 mph fastball as an 18 year old high school pitcher He threw the pitch in the Japanese national high school baseball championship tournament commonly called Summer Koshien 12 In the 2012 18U Baseball World Championship Ohtani had an 0 1 win loss record with 16 strikeouts eight walks five hits five runs and a 4 35 earned run average ERA in 10 1 3 innings pitched 13 Professional career EditOhtani expressed a desire to move directly to the major leagues after high school and received interest from numerous teams including the Texas Rangers Boston Red Sox New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers 12 14 15 16 On October 21 2012 he announced that he would pursue a career in Major League Baseball rather than turn professional in Japan 17 18 The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters decided to draft him in the 2012 NPB Draft nevertheless despite knowing that there was a high likelihood he would not play for them After an exclusive negotiating window between him and the Fighters Ohtani announced that he would sign with the Fighters and spend some years in Japan before a possible MLB move 7 19 Hokkaido said it would allow Ohtani to serve as a pitcher and position player the Los Angeles Dodgers who had become Ohtani s top choice MLB team were not prepared to let him play both ways 20 He was assigned the jersey number 11 previously worn by Yu Darvish 21 Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters Edit Rookie year 2013 Edit Ohtani made his debut at age 18 in the Fighters season opening game on March 29 2013 playing as a right fielder 22 He was selected for a Pacific League roster spot for the 2013 All Star Game As a pitcher he finished the season with a 3 0 record in 11 starts Ohtani was used as a rookie in both the outfield leading the Fighters with 51 games in right and as a pitcher 23 He was the second Nippon Pro Baseball rookie drafted out of high school the previous year to be used as both a pitcher and position player following Kikuo Tokunaga in 1951 Ohtani was the first to start in both roles He was the first NPB pitcher since Takao Kajimoto in 1963 to bat 3rd 4th or 5th and the first rookie hurler to do so since Junzo Sekine in 1950 He was the second player following Osamu Takechi also 1950 to start a game at pitcher bat in the heart of the order 3rd through 5th and get a hit and a run batted in RBI in that game He missed time during the year with a right ankle sprain and right cheekbone fracture For the season he was 3 0 with a 4 23 ERA 33 walks and 46 strikeouts in 61 2 3 innings and hit 238 284 376 in 204 plate appearances 2 He had seven outfield assists to one error His 8 hit batsmen tied Manabu Mima Tadashi Settsu Hideaki Wakui and Ryoma Nogami for 5th in the 2013 Pacific League Ohtani received 4 of the 233 votes for the 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award Pacific League tying Tatsuya Sato for a distant second behind Takahiro Norimoto 24 During his five year tenure with the Fighters Ohtani opted to live in the team s provided dormitories while his parents oversaw his personal finances 6 Second NPB All Star selection 2014 Edit Ohtani batting in 2013 for the Fighters Throughout the entire season Ohtani performed double duty as a pitcher and outfielder utilizing his strong throwing arm as well as his impressive batting skills As a hitter he batted 274 with 28 extra base hits including 10 home runs 31 RBIs and a 842 on base plus slugging percentage in 212 at bats As a pitcher he was 11 4 with a 2 61 ERA in 24 starts and struck out 179 third in NPB in 155 1 innings His 10 4 K 9 was the best in the league and opponents hit just 223 against him In a September 7 game against the Orix Buffaloes he homered to straightaway center at Kyocera Dome to become the first Japanese player to reach double digits in both home runs and wins 25 26 He tossed a 1 0 shutout against Orix on September 13 and became the first pitcher out of high school to record a 1 0 shutout victory within his first two years for the Fighters since Toshiaki Moriyasu in 1967 He also became the first pitcher out of high school to notch two shutout victories within his first two years in the NPB since Yu Darvish 27 During the July 2014 Mazda All Star Game he threw a 162 km h 101 mph fastball in the bottom of the first inning setting a new record for the fastest official pitch thrown by a Japanese pitcher beating the record set by the Yakult Swallows Yoshinori Sato in 2010 161 km h 100 mph 28 The jersey he wore during the game sold for 1 752 000 yen 17 000 making it the top seller at the All Star 2014 Charity Auction The proceeds were donated to three Tohoku earthquake children s relief funds 29 On October 5 against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Ohtani recorded the fastest pitch by a Japanese pitcher in an official game tying Marc Kroon s all time record for NPB pitchers The pitch came against lead off hitter Akaminai Ginji in the 1st inning With the count 0 1 Ohtani threw a fastball that registered 162 km h 101 mph on the stadium radar gun and shattered Ginji s bat in half He also hit 162 km h twice against the second hitter Aoi Enomoto Of the 15 pitches he threw in the first inning eight were in the 160s 99s in MPH 30 During the postseason Ohtani was chosen to become a member of the national team dubbed Samurai Japan and participated in the Suzuki All Star Series 31 a five game friendly competition with a squad of major leaguers In Game 1 he pitched one shutout inning in relief retiring three consecutive batters He started Game 5 at the Sapporo Dome and although his team ultimately lost 3 1 he wasn t charged with an earned run he gave up two unearned and of the 12 outs he recorded in four innings he got seven via strikeout He threw mostly fastballs even clocked one at 160 km h 99 mph occasional curveballs and a few forkballs in the mid 140s including one he threw perfectly in the second inning to strike out Tampa Bay Rays star Ben Zobrist 32 In December he became the second player out of high school in NPB history to reach 100M yen in salary in his third year after Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2001 His new contract more than tripled his previous salary estimated at 30M yen 7 Pacific League Pitcher Best Nine and ERA leader 2015 Edit Ohtani with the Fighters in 2015 2015 marked Ohtani s third professional season and second full season Though his offensive production declined somewhat five home runs his performance on the mound was among the best in the league earning him the starter role in the 2015 All Star Game and the pitching spot in the end of year Pacific League Best Nine awards Ohtani started 2015 NPB All Star Game 1 for the PL He went two innings and fanned two allowing one run on a double by Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and a single by Jose Lopez relieved by Nishi with a 1 0 deficit The PL would lose 8 6 but he got a no decision He finished the season 15 5 with a 2 24 ERA 196 strikeouts and only 100 hits in 160 2 3 innings He led the PL in ERA 14 over Nishi tied Wakui for the most wins and was second in strikeouts 19 behind Norimoto though he threw 34 fewer innings He rarely played the field but did see some action at DH hitting 202 252 376 with five home runs in 109 at bats He made the Best Nine as the PL s top hurler He finished third in MVP voting again placing behind Yanagita and Shogo Akiyama for the 2015 Pacific League MVP Ohtani placed third in MVP voting first among pitchers and was one of three candidates considered for the 2015 Sawamura Award given annually to the top pitcher in either league 33 Ohtani led the league in wins and winning percentage with a 15 5 record in just 22 starts and his 2 24 ERA five complete games and three shutouts were also best in the league All these stats were career bests as were his 196 strikeouts 0 909 WHIP and 11 strikeouts per nine innings 34 Ohtani was dominant for the Japanese national team in the 2015 Premier 12 He hit 100 mph while blowing away eventual champion South Korea 10 K 2 H 2 BB 0 R in 6 IP before Norimoto relieved Facing South Korea again in the semifinals he was even sharper 11 K 0 BB 1 HB 1 H in 7 IP He did not give up a hit until Keun woo Jeong singled in the seventh inning and had the most whiffs in a game for the first Premier 12 ever 35 Norimoto relieved with a 3 0 lead but he and two other relievers combined to allow four in the 9th to blow it as Japan fell in a shocking defeat He led the event in ERA Scott Diamond had 12 innings with a 0 00 ERA to Ohtani s 13 and strikeouts one ahead of Chun Lin Kuo while allowing the lowest average by a starting pitcher He was named the All Star SP for the event Sho Nakata was the only other member of Samurai Japan to be picked for the All Star team Pacific League Most Valuable Player and first Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize 2016 Edit In 104 games and 382 plate appearances in 2016 Ohtani hit 22 home runs He also hit 18 doubles 67 RBI batted 322 with an OBP of 416 scored 65 runs and had seven stolen bases He won the Best Nine award as the designated hitter 36 Ohtani was the same dominant pitcher on the mound In 21 games pitched he had a career low in ERA at 1 86 He had a 10 4 record struck out 174 batters in 140 innings with 4 complete games and one shutout He also won the Best Nine award as a pitcher and won the Pacific League MVP He got nearly double as many votes as any other pitcher for the PL for the 2016 NPB All Star Game he had 300 025 while 2 Shota Takeda had 158 008 37 He could not pitch in the event due to a blister on his finger but wound up starring as a designated hitter DH 38 In Game 1 he batted for DH Yuya Hasegawa and lined out in the 8th against Scott Mathieson Starting at DH and hitting 5th in Game 2 he homered off Shoichi Ino in the 5th to start the PL comeback from a 3 0 deficit He singled against Ryo Akiyoshi in the 7th and scored on a hit by Kenta Imamiya for a 4 3 lead Coming up with a 5 4 deficit in the 8th he singled off Shinji Tajima to bring in Shogo Akiyama with the tying run He thus produced three of the PL s five runs in the 5 5 tie earning him game MVP honors He hit 165 km h 102 5 mph on the radar gun during the year setting a new NPB record 39 He finished the year at 322 416 588 with 22 home runs in 382 plate appearances on offense and a 10 4 record and 1 86 ERA on the mound with 174 strikeouts in 140 innings He tied for 8th in the PL in wins and was third in strikeouts behind Norimoto and Kodai Senga 40 He led Nippon Ham to the 2016 Japan Series but lost the opener to the Hiroshima Carp he fanned 11 in 6 innings but allowed 3 runs two on a homer by Brad Eldred and one on a steal of home by Seiya Suzuki Down 2 games to 0 he came up big as the DH in Game 3 getting three hits a run and an RBI In the bottom of the 10th he singled off Daichi Osera score Nishikawa with the winner Nippon Ham would take the next three games to win their second Japan Series title Teammate Brandon Laird would win the Series MVP Ohtani hit 375 412 625 with four doubles doing more on offense than on the mound for the Series 41 He made the Best Nine as the top pitcher and top DH in the PL He became the first player to receive the awards as both a pitcher and a hitter 42 He topped four time Cuban MVP Alfredo Despaigne easily at DH 190 votes to 47 three others combined for eight votes but the vote at pitcher was closer he had 111 of 245 votes Ishikawa 69 and Tsuyoshi Wada 61 He was the runaway winner of the 2016 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award getting 253 of 254 first place votes Naoki Miyanishi got the other one and one second place vote He had 1 268 vote points to 298 for runner up Laird 43 2017 Edit In 2017 he played in 65 games hitting 332 with eight homers and 31 RBIs while posting a 3 2 record a 3 20 ERA and 29 strikeouts as a pitcher 44 In September it was revealed that Ohtani would ask to be posted at the end of the season in order to play in Major League Baseball in 2018 However before that could happen he had surgery on his right ankle in early October The injury had originally occurred in the 2016 Japan Series and had cost him a chance to play in the 2017 World Baseball Classic in addition to restricting his playing time during the season 45 46 On November 21 2017 MLB and NPB came to a posting agreement for Ohtani 47 Because he was under 25 years old Ohtani was subjected to international signing rules This capped his bonus at 3 557 million and limited him to a rookie salary scale while the signing team also had to pay a 20 million posting fee to the Fighters Ohtani narrowed his finalists to seven teams signing with the Angels for a 2 315 million bonus 48 Los Angeles Angels Edit See also 2017 Los Angeles Angels season On December 8 2017 Ohtani agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Angels The deal was finalized the next day 49 On December 13 it was revealed that Ohtani was diagnosed with a first degree UCL sprain in his right elbow He received a platelet rich plasma injection to treat the injury 50 2018 AL Rookie of the Year Edit See also 2018 Los Angeles Angels season Ohtani pitching in 2018 Prior to the start of the season the Angels announced that they would continue to use Ohtani as both a hitter and a pitcher 51 Ohtani started as the designated hitter on Opening Day March 29 against the Oakland Athletics singling in his first at bat 52 On April 1 he made his pitching debut striking out six batters in six innings while allowing three runs to pick up his first MLB win 53 On April 3 Ohtani hit his first MLB home run a 397 foot three run homer against Josh Tomlin 54 On April 6 he hit his third home run in three days becoming the first Angels rookie to do so 55 In only his second start on the mound on April 8 Ohtani took a perfect game through 6 innings before allowing a hit Overall Ohtani pitched seven scoreless innings while striking out 12 56 Making his third start pitching on April 18 against the Boston Red Sox Ohtani exited after two innings due to a blister on his right middle finger 57 On June 6 Ohtani left the game after a blister on the same finger Two days later he was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his MLB career due to a Grade 2 UCL sprain in his right elbow He received platelet rich plasma and stem cell injections to treat the injury 58 Ohtani was activated from the disabled list as a hitter on July 2 and went 0 for 4 against the Seattle Mariners 59 On August 3 Ohtani hit two home runs against the Cleveland Indians marking his first career multiple home run game and his first two home runs in a road game 60 After Ohtani had not pitched for 11 weeks Angels manager Mike Scioscia announced that Ohtani would start the game against the Houston Astros on September 2 61 On September 7 Ohtani broke the MLB home run record by a Japanese rookie when he hit his 19th home run for the season 62 Ohtani ended his first major league season with a batting average of 285 a 361 on base percentage 22 home runs 61 RBIs and 10 stolen bases In 10 starts on the mound he notched a 4 2 record with a 3 31 ERA 1 16 walks plus hits per inning pitched WHIP and 63 strikeouts 63 His 564 slugging percentage ranked seventh overall among MLB players with at least 350 plate appearances for this season He became the second fastest Angels rookie to reach 20 home runs and he joined Babe Ruth as the only MLB players with 10 pitching appearances and 20 homers in a season 64 He also won the American League Rookie of the Month award twice in April and in September 65 On September 3 2018 ESPN announced that doctors recommended that Ohtani undergo Tommy John surgery after an MRI showed new damage to his UCL 66 The Angels announced on September 25 that Ohtani had agreed to the procedure which would keep him off the mound until 2020 67 On October 1 Angels general manager Billy Eppler announced that Ohtani underwent successful Tommy John surgery 63 On November 12 he was named the American League Rookie of the Year 68 2019 Edit Ohtani batting in 2019 See also 2019 Los Angeles Angels season On May 7 2019 Ohtani played in his first game with the Angels since undergoing Tommy John surgery batting as a designated hitter against the Detroit Tigers 69 In a June 13 game against the Tampa Bay Rays Ohtani became the first Japanese born player to hit for the cycle in MLB history 70 On September 12 Ohtani s 2019 season prematurely ended after it was revealed that he needed surgery to repair a bipartite patella He finished the season batting 286 343 505 with 18 home runs 62 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 106 games 71 2020 Edit See also 2020 Los Angeles Angels season The 2020 MLB season did not start until July 24 due to the COVID 19 pandemic 72 On July 24 2020 Ohtani was the first ever automatic player on second base in an official MLB game at the start of the 10th inning as part of one of the new 2020 MLB season rules in a game against the Oakland Athletics He was thrown out in a rundown 73 On July 26 2020 Ohtani returned to the mound against the Oakland Athletics making his first pitching appearance since September 2018 He allowed five runs and was removed from the mound without recording an out starting his season with a loss and an infinite ERA 74 After his second start of the season against the Houston Astros Ohtani began to experience discomfort in his right arm and it was eventually revealed that he had a flexor strain in his right elbow after undergoing an MRI 75 Angels manager Joe Maddon later stated that Ohtani would not pitch for the rest of the season 76 On the offensive side Ohtani finished the season batting 190 291 366 with seven home runs 24 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 43 games 77 The culmination of experiencing injuries in his 2019 and 2020 campaigns led to Ohtani describing feeling frustrated and useless He went on to say that while his 2019 had been disappointing his 2020 had been more like pathetic because he could not pitch or hit the way he wanted to Ohtani said Until 2019 I could more or less do the things I wanted to do I d pretty much never experienced the feeling of wanting to do something but being completely unable to do it 78 2021 AL MVP Edit This section may be too long to read and navigate comfortably Please consider splitting content into sub articles condensing it or adding subheadings Please discuss this issue on the article s talk page October 2021 See also 2021 Los Angeles Angels season After the results of the 2019 and 2020 seasons Ohtani spent the offseason overhauling himself 78 79 He adjusted his diet based on blood sample analysis and started squatting heavily again focusing on strengthening his lower half and bulking up to 225 pounds 78 79 He threw bullpen sessions earlier than usual and took batting practice against live pitching an offseason first for him 78 79 Ohtani also embraced data and technology to optimize his training and recovery by visiting Driveline Baseball a popular player development destination for underperforming pitchers where he also tinkered with a changeup 78 Furthermore in spring training the Angels general manager Perry Minasian manager Joe Maddon and Ohtani agreed to allow Ohtani to play without limitations or restrictions and drop the Ohtani Rules 80 a plan the Angels mirrored from Ohtani s schedule in Japan and had implemented since his 2018 rookie season that restricted his usage to a schedule of pitching once a week and hitting only three to four times between starts 79 Free of the Ohtani Rules Ohtani would be in charge of his own daily diagnostics with Maddon to determine his pitching and hitting schedule 10 On February 8 Ohtani agreed to a two year 8 5 million contract with the Angels avoiding arbitration 81 In his first pitching start against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday Night Baseball on April 4 2021 he threw 4 innings allowing one earned run and two unearned runs During that start he struck out seven batters 82 Additionally Ohtani batted second in the lineup 83 He went 1 for 3 hitting a 450 foot solo home run on the first pitch he faced After skipping a scheduled start against the Toronto Blue Jays due to a blister 84 Ohtani made his second start of the season on April 20 against the Texas Rangers Under a 75 pitch limit he threw four scoreless innings striking out seven batters and allowing one hit 85 In his third start on April 26 once again against the Texas Rangers Ohtani collected his first win of the season He pitched five innings allowing four runs in the first inning and striking out nine Offensively he went 2 for 3 with two RBIs Ohtani also became the first player in nearly 100 years to start a game on the mound while also entering the day leading the Majors in home runs Such an event had not occurred since Babe Ruth took the mound as starting pitcher for the Yankees on June 13 1921 leading the AL with 19 home runs 86 87 All Star debut Edit On June 18 Ohtani was elected to the 2021 Home Run Derby becoming both the first pitcher and the first Japanese player to do so 88 Three days later Ohtani was named AL Player of the Week for the third time in his career after hitting six home runs and picking up a win as starting pitcher 89 Two weeks later he was again named AL Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career after hitting six home runs and recording a 1 543 OPS with eight RBIs in six games to help the Angels go 5 1 90 On June 23 he made history yet again as he hit for himself as a pitcher and the second batter in the lineup against the Giants with designated hitter rules in place making it the first time in MLB history that an American League team chose not to use a DH while a National League team utilized one 91 For the first time in his career Ohtani was named the American League Player of the Month for June as he hit 309 423 889 with 13 home runs and a 1 312 OPS as a hitter and earned two wins as a pitcher 92 On July 3 against the Baltimore Orioles Ohtani became the first player in American League history to reach 30 home runs and 10 stolen bases in the first 81 games of the season 93 On July 4 Ohtani made history by becoming the first player to be selected as an All Star as both a position player and a pitcher 94 He had already been selected as the starting designated hitter by the fans for the 2021 All Star Game on July 1 95 while being voted by the players as one of five starting pitchers to make the American League roster on July 4 94 On July 7 Ohtani hit his 32nd home run of the year a solo shot off of Boston Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez passing Hideki Matsui s mark in 2004 for the most home runs hit during a season by a Japanese born player in MLB 96 Additionally Ohtani won the Best Major League Baseball Player ESPY Award becoming the first Japanese player to win the award 97 Ohtani participated in the Home Run Derby on July 12 In the first round he hit 22 home runs tying him with opponent Juan Soto A tiebreaker round saw Ohtani and Soto tied again at 28 home runs While Soto won the round after a second tiebreaker Ohtani set a record for the most home runs in the Derby of at least 500 feet with six 98 99 For participating in the Derby Ohtani received 150 000 which he proceeded to donate his earnings to approximately 30 Angels support employees to thank them for their work which included trainers clubhouse workers and media relations staffers Ohtani had decided that he was going to use the money in this manner no matter what his Derby outcome was 100 On July 13 Ohtani made All Star Game history again as the starting pitcher and leadoff designated hitter for the American League 101 After pitching a perfect first inning he also became the first player in major league history to compete in the Home Run Derby and earn a win as the starting pitcher in the All Star Game Two way season Edit Ohtani in September 2021 against the Texas Rangers On July 26 in his 15th pitching start of the season against the Colorado Rockies Ohtani became the first pitcher in league history to register 100 strikeouts while holding a major league leading 35 home runs before the end of July as no pitcher had ever recorded triple digit strikeouts and added more than nine home runs in the same season 102 Additionally in the same game Ohtani became the first pitcher to throw a scoreless top half and record a hit a RBI a stolen base and a scored run while playing in an AL ballpark since Luis Tiant did so for the Minnesota Twins on April 26 1970 103 Ohtani would finish the month of July as the first player in Major League history to ever have at least 37 home runs and 15 stolen bases before the end of July 104 And for the second straight month Ohtani also earned his second American League Player of the Month Award becoming the first back to back Player of the Month Award winner in either league since Chase Headley in August and September 2012 and the first in the AL since Josh Hamilton in 2012 For the month of July he produced nine home runs 19 RBIs 16 walks and a 282 396 671 slash line in 23 games at the plate and a 1 35 ERA with 17 strikeouts and one walk in 20 innings 105 On August 18 Ohtani pitched a dominant 8 innings against the Detroit Tigers setting a career high by throwing 90 pitches to record 24 outs in eight innings while also hitting a solo homer for his 40th of the year in the eighth inning to lead the Angels to a 3 1 win He became the first left handed batter in Angels history to reach 40 home runs surpassing lefty Reggie Jackson s 1982 record of 39 He also became just the fourth AL pitcher to throw at least eight innings and hit a homer in a game since the DH was instituted in 1973 joining Jon Garland in June 2006 Kris Benson in June 2006 and Bobby Witt in June 1997 106 Ohtani would cap off the month of August by stealing his 20th base in a game on August 28 against the San Diego Padres becoming the first Japanese born player 107 and the first player in Angels history to hit 40 home runs and have 20 stolen bases in the same season He joined Alex Rodriguez in 2007 and Ken Griffey Jr in 1999 as the 3rd AL player to accomplish this feat before September He also became the first AL player to reach both of those totals in a season since Curtis Granderson in 2011 108 On September 21 after hitting his 45th home run of the season Ohtani became the first player to hit at least 45 homers and steal 20 bases in a season since Alex Rodriguez in 2007 109 And on September 25 Ohtani joined Willie Mays as the only players with at least 45 home runs 20 stolen bases and six triples in a season 110 when he hit two triples in consecutive plate appearances becoming the first Angels player to do so since Peter Bourjos in April 2011 111 From September 22 to 25 Ohtani drew 13 walks in a 4 game span tying an AL NL record set by Babe Ruth in 1930 Bryce Harper in 2016 and Yasmani Grandal in 2021 He drew a career high four walks on September 22 and three walks on September 23 against the Houston Astros followed by four more walks on September 24 and two walks on September 25 against the Seattle Mariners 111 His 11 walks drawn in the three game span also tied the MLB record set by Harper in 2016 112 MVP award and other honors Edit The Angels announced on September 25 that Ohtani was named as both the team s Los Angeles Angels Player of the Year of 2021 and the team s Nick Adenhart Pitcher of the Year Award as voted by his teammates 113 On September 26 Ohtani reached the 150 strikeout milestone against the Seattle Mariners and finished the year unbeaten at home going 6 0 with a 1 95 ERA in 13 starts Ohtani s home ERA was the lowest by an Angels starter since Jered Weaver in 2011 He also became the sixth starter in AL or NL history to make at least 13 home starts without a losing decision and an ERA below 2 00 in a season 114 In the last game of the season against the Seattle Mariners Ohtani passed teammate Mike Trout s 45 home runs in a single season to finish with the second most home runs in a season in Angels history at 46 trailing only Troy Glaus 47 home runs in 2000 115 For the year Ohtani finished his pitching campaign by making 23 starts on the mound going 9 2 with a 3 18 ERA 156 strikeouts 1 09 WHIP and 44 walks in 130 1 3 innings 115 On the hitting side Ohtani finished with an American League leading 20 intentional walks which was the most by an AL player since Mike Trout in 2018 Ohtani who batted 257 372 592 including 46 home runs runner up for the MLB lead in homers 100 RBI 103 runs and 26 steals in 155 games and 639 plate appearances hit several milestones to close his season reaching both 100 RBIs and 100 runs for the first time in his career He also tied for the MLB lead with eight triples to go along with 26 stolen bases Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have at least 45 homers 25 stolen bases 100 RBIs 100 runs and eight triples in a season and the second player in AL history to record at least 45 homers and 25 stolen bases in a season joining Jose Canseco in 1998 115 According to Baseball Reference com Ohtani led the league with a wins above replacement WAR value of 9 1 and finished third in home runs 46 fourth in slugging percentage 592 fifth in OPS 965 first in triples eight fifth in drawing walks 96 eight in stolen bases 26 second in extra base hits 80 second in intentional walks 20 fifth in OPS 158 and first in power speed number 33 2 116 Ohtani was unanimously voted the American League Most Valuable Player becoming the 23rd pitcher and first designated hitter to win the award 117 118 For the 2021 All MLB Team Ohtani is the only player to be named to both teams first team and second team in the same season as a designated hitter and starting pitcher respectively 119 He became the first pitcher the first Japanese player and the first Angels player to win the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award 120 121 Ohtani was also awarded the Silver Slugger Award for being the best offensive player at the designated hitter position in the American League 122 and was named to Time 100 s list of most influential people of 2021 123 which culminated to many end of the season accolades He was named Associated Press AP Athlete of the Year 124 Sporting News Athlete of the Year 125 Baseball Digest Player of the Year 126 and Baseball America Major League Player of the Year 127 From his MLB peers he was given Sporting News Player of the Year Award 128 Players Choice Player of the Year Award and Players Choice American League Outstanding Player Award 129 Additionally Ohtani s 2021 season was recognized for two Guinness World Records titles 1 the first MLB player to achieve 100 innings and record 100 strikeouts as a pitcher and 100 RBIs hits and runs as a batter in a single season and 2 the first player to start the MLB All Star Game as a pitcher and a designated hitter 130 He also became the 16th recipient of the Commissioner s Historic Achievement Award awarded by Commissioner Rob Manfred 3 who formally recognized Ohtani s 2021 season as historically significant and unprecedented calling it so special that it was important to recognize the historic achievement that took place in 2021 with an award just about 2021 3 Ohtani was offered Japan s national honor the People s Honour Award by the Prime Minister of Japan in recognition of his accomplishments but Ohtani rejected it saying it was still too early for such an award 131 On December 22 2021 Sporting News released the article The 50 greatest seasons in sports history ranked In it Ohtani s 2021 season was ranked No 1 topping great seasons by athletes such as Babe Ruth Michael Jordan Tom Brady Wayne Gretzky and Lionel Messi 132 2022 Edit Ohtani batting in 2022 On March 22 2022 Major League Baseball introduced a new rule that allows for a pitcher in the batting order to remain in the game as a designated hitter after they are pulled from the pitching mound The rule was colloquially dubbed the Ohtani rule because of Ohtani s unique prowess as a two way player 133 The rule will enable Ohtani to remain in the game after he is done pitching at his customary designated hitter spot instead of being switched to a defensive position like the outfield something that he did seven times in 2021 134 On March 25 Ohtani was named as the Opening Day starter for the Angels 2022 season 135 He pitched 4 2 3 innings against the Houston Astros allowing one earned run and one walk while striking out 9 136 He became the first player in MLB history to start Opening Day as both the starting pitcher and the leadoff hitter 137 During a game against the Astros on April 20 Ohtani batted twice in the top of the first inning becoming the first starting pitcher to do so since at least 1900 In the same game Ohtani pitched 5 1 3 perfect innings before giving up a single to former teammate Jason Castro the only hit of the game for Houston Ohtani finished the game at 6 innings pitched with 1 hit no runs and 1 walk surrendered and 12 strikeouts tying his career high On offense he went 2 4 with a run and 2 RBIs 138 Pitching against the Texas Rangers on April 14 Ohtani gave up his first ever career grand slam against Jonah Heim in an eventual 10 5 loss by the Angels Coincidentally it was also the first ever grand slam hit by Heim 139 Against the Boston Red Sox on May 5 2022 Ohtani while hitting third and making his first career start on the mound at Fenway Park became the first starting pitcher to bat in one of the top four spots in a game at Fenway since Babe Ruth did so on September 20 1919 He threw seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts in the Angels 8 0 victory over the Red Sox while also going 2 for 4 from the plate and a RBI single in the eighth inning to become the second starting pitcher to ever record a hit at Fenway after Roger Clemens in 1996 since the implementation of the designated hitter in 1973 140 His induced 29 swings and misses became the most registered number of swings and misses in a game for 2022 141 Ohtani recorded two home runs including a grand slam on May 9 2022 against the Tampa Bay Rays marking the second time of the 2022 season and the eighth time in his career for Ohtani to record a multi homer game surpassing Ichiro Suzuki for the most by a Japanese born player in MLB history 142 while also going 3 for 4 and a career high five RBIs The grand slam was the first of his professional career including both NPB and MLB 143 On May 14 2022 Ohtani hit his 100th career MLB home run making him the third Japanese born player with at least 100 homers in the majors trailing only Hideki Matsui with 175 and Ichiro Suzuki with 117 Ohtani also joined Babe Ruth as the only players with at least 100 home runs and at least 250 strikeouts as a pitcher 144 On June 9 2022 Ohtani hit a go ahead two run home run and pitched seven innings including throwing a 101 mph fastball to strike out Rafael Devers to end the third the hardest strikeout pitch of his career in a 5 2 win over the Boston Red Sox to end the Angels 14 game losing streak the longest in franchise history 145 The victory resulted in a six game pitching span from June 9 to July 13 where Ohtani went 6 0 with a 0 45 ERA 39 2 IP amp 2 ER and 58 strikeouts while also hitting eight HR with a 997 OPS while becoming the fourth pitcher all time to go 6 0 with 58 SO and 2 or fewer ER in a six game span joining Cy Young winners Johan Santana 2004 R A Dickey 2012 and Clayton Kershaw 2014 141 In a two game span from June 21 22 2022 Ohtani made MLB history by becoming the first player in the American League or National League to have at least eight RBIs in a game and strike out at least 10 batters the next day 146 On June 21 Ohtani hit a pair of three run homers and set a career high with eight RBIs becoming the first player born in Japan to have eight RBI in a game and just the eighth player in Angels history to have eight RBIs in a game Ohtani s eight RBIs were the most by an Angels player since Garret Anderson had a franchise record 10 RBIs against the New York Yankees on August 21 2007 It was also the most RBIs in a game by a Japanese born player surpassing seven RBI games from Hideki Matsui in 2009 and Tadahito Iguchi in 2006 147 The following day Ohtani set another career high with 13 strikeouts over eight scoreless innings to help lift the Angels to a 5 0 win over the Kansas City Royals becoming the 19th player in Angels history with 13 strikeouts in a game and the first since Patrick Sandoval on July 24 2021 against the Minnesota Twins 146 On July 6 2022 against the Miami Marlins Ohtani made MLB history again by becoming the first player since RBI became an official statistic in 1920 to record 10 strikeouts as a pitcher two RBIs as a batter and a stolen base all in a single game 148 His 111 strikeouts over 81 innings pitched in the game made him the first Angels pitcher to record 110 K s in the first half in fewer than 100 innings and the first Angels pitcher to 110 K s in the first half since Garrett Richards in 2014 He also became the fourth Angels player with multiple seasons of 15 home runs and 10 stolen bases prior to the All Star break and the eighth Major Leaguer since earned runs were official in 1913 to record 40 plus strikeouts and zero earned runs in a four start span 148 2nd All Star Edit For a second straight year Ohtani was voted in to the All Star Game by fans as the starter at the designated hitter position on July 8 149 and on July 10 he was selected as a starting pitcher again making history as the only player to be selected as an All Star as both a position player and a pitcher twice 150 Ohtani announced however that he would only participate as a hitter in the All Star Game even though he was considered as a candidate to start for the AL team Ohtani declined to pitch citing a scheduling conflict and his preference to prioritize the season over the All Star Game 151 In a game against the Oakland Athletics where he pitched and hit Ohtani completed three historical feats on August 9 2022 Ohtani joined Babe Ruth in an exclusive 10 homer 10 win club moved up on the all time home run list for Japanese born players and set a single season career high in strikeouts Ohtani tossed six scoreless innings to earn his 10th win of the season for the first time in his Major League career He and Babe Ruth are the only two players in AL and NL history to win at least 10 games on the mound and hit at least 10 home runs in the same season Ed Rile and Bullet Rogan also accomplished this feat in the Negro leagues as well Ohtani s 25th home run of the season was his 118th career home run which surpassed Ichiro Suzuki s 117 career home runs to become second place on the all time Major League home run list for Japanese born players Ohtani s five strikeouts in the game brought him to 157 on the season a new single season high eclipsing his 2021 total of 156 Combined with his playing days in Nippon Professional Baseball Ohtani reached 1 000 strikeouts between NPB 624 and MLB 379 152 Against the New York Yankees on August 30 Ohtani launched a go ahead three run home run off Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in the sixth inning to become the only player in MLB history with 10 pitching wins and 30 HR in the same season 153 Ohtani had a career best team leading 18 game hit streak that began on September 14 and ended on October 3 141 The Angels avoided arbitration with Ohtani on October 1 signing Ohtani to a one year deal worth 30 million for the 2023 season At 30 million the deal set a new record for a player in his third year of arbitration surpassing the 27 million Mookie Betts received before the 2020 season and also gives Ohtani the biggest salary raise of any arbitration eligible player a 24 5 million raise from his 2022 salary of 5 5 million and 3 million of 2021 154 On October 5 Ohtani pitched five innings in a loss to the Oakland Athletics becoming the first player in the modern era to qualify for both the hitting and pitching leaderboards in one season reaching the limits of 3 1 plate appearances and one inning pitched per game 4 Ohtani finished his 2022 season with a 15 9 record a 2 33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings He also hit 273 356 519 with 34 homers 30 doubles 11 stolen bases and 95 RBIs in 157 games Among AL pitchers Ohtani finished the year first in SO 9 innings rate 11 87 third in strikeouts 219 fourth in ERA 2 33 and tied for fourth in wins 15 while amongst AL hitters Ohtani ranked fourth in homers 34 fifth in OPS 875 fifth in total bases 304 third in intentional walks 14 tied for third in extra base hits 70 fifth in slugging 519 tied for fourth in triples 6 seventh in RBIs 95 seventh in walks 72 and tied for eighth in runs 90 4 Ohtani also led the majors with a home to first average time of 4 09 seconds and was the only player in the majors to tally at least six triples and 34 home runs in 2022 making him the only player to do so in a second consecutive year 141 He hit a ball with the highest exit velocity in major league baseball for the season at 119 1 mph 155 He also had the fastest speed running from home plate to first base at 4 09 seconds 156 The Angels announced that Ohtani was once again named as both the team s Los Angeles Angels Player of the Year of 2022 and the team s Nick Adenhart Pitcher of the Year Award as voted by his teammates 154 Additionally in October the term Ohtani rule was added to Dictionary com as an official entry in their lexicon 141 157 International career Edit2012 WBSC U 18 Baseball World Cup Edit Ohtani was selected to Japan s Under 18 National Team that eventually finished in sixth place at the 2012 18U Baseball World Championship 18U Baseball World Championship in Seoul 158 2015 WBSC Premier12 Edit In the 2015 Premier12 Ohtani earned a bronze medal with the Samurai Japan National Baseball Team He was the ace of Japan s pitching staff which featured Kenta Maeda As the number one starter Ohtani made two pitching appearances for Japan both against the Republic of Korea winning Game 1 of the opening round and getting a no decision in the semifinals Ohtani was subsequently named to the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation All World Team and was named the 2015 WBSC Baseball Player of the Year 159 2017 World Baseball Classic Edit Ohtani was on the 28 man roster for the Japan National Baseball Team of the 2017 World Baseball Classic but was forced to withdraw due to an ankle injury 160 2023 World Baseball Classic Edit Ohtani played for the Japan National Baseball Team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic 161 He was named the Pool B MVP for his hitting and pitching performances in the group stage of the tournament 162 He earned the save in the championship game and won the tournament s MVP award after batting 435 and pitching to a 1 86 ERA 163 Awards and achievements EditAwards and exhibition team selections Edit MLBAmerican League Most Valuable Player 2021 Commissioner s Historic Achievement Award 2021 2 American League Player of the Month June 2021 July 2021 4 American League Player of the Week April 8 2018 September 9 2018 June 20 2021 July 4 2021 2 Major League Baseball All Star Game selection 2021 2022 American League Rookie of the Year 2018 Silver Slugger Award at Designated Hitter 2021 Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award 2021 2 Los Angeles Angels Player of the Year 2021 2022 2 Nick Adenhart Pitcher of the Year Award 2021 2022 Players Choice Award for Player of the Year 2021 Players Choice Award for American League Outstanding Player 2021 MediaAssociated Press AP Athlete of the Year 2021 124 Baseball America Major League Player of the Year 2021 Baseball America Rookie of the Year Award 2018 Baseball Digest Player of the Year 2021 Sporting News Athlete of the Year 2021 125 Sporting News MLB Player of the Year Award 2021 Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award 2018 3 ESPY Award winner 2 Best Major League Baseball Player 2021 2022 97 Best Male Athlete 2022 Topps All Star Rookie team 2018 Statistical achievements Edit American League statistical leader Category Times SeasonsIntentional base on balls leader 1 2021Triples leader 1 2021At bats per home run leader 1 2021Power speed number leader 1 2021Wins above replacement leader 1 2021Win probability added leader 1 2021Strikeouts per nine innings pitched leader 1 2022Notes Per Baseball Reference com Through 2022 season Playing style EditPitching Edit Ohtani is a 6 foot 4 inch 1 93 m 210 pound 95 kg right handed starting pitcher 164 With an overhand delivery 165 he throws a four seam fastball averaging 97 miles per hour 156 km h 164 topping out at 102 5 mph 165 km h 166 an 86 88 mile per hour 138 142 km h forkball split finger fastball 167 168 with late diving action 169 an occasional curveball and a solid slider at 82 84 miles per hour 132 135 km h 170 He posted a walks per nine innings rate of 3 3 across his NPB career 171 Ohtani has been compared to Justin Verlander by some MLB scouts 172 with his ability and affinity to throwing harder in high leverage spots and later in games 173 Whereas most pitchers throw only a little harder in big spots than they do in normal ones and most pitchers lose speed as the game goes on Ohtani like Verlander are both able to reserve power and staying power in order to conserve energy without throwing max effort on every offering 173 Batting and fielding Edit Ohtani is a left handed batter He is a designated hitter and occasional outfielder known for being able to hit with homerun power 116 As a baserunner Ohtani s sprint speed and feet first sliding technique have allowed him to be a league leader in stolen bases bunt hits and infield hit rate 173 Scouts have timed Ohtani running from the batter s box to first base in as little as 3 8 seconds 174 For the 2021 season his 28 8 feet per second sprint speed ranked in the 92nd percentile of all players as did his 3 51 second 80 foot split 175 and he also recorded the fastest home to first average sprint time in the Majors at 4 09 seconds 173 176 while recording a career high 26 stolen bases 115 Shinzo Abe awarding Shohei Ohtani the Prime Minister Trophy at the 2018 Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize Award CeremonyPersonal life EditSince gaining national and international attention as a high school phenom Ohtani is one of Japan s most celebrated athletes 6 and has faced intense media pressure scrutiny with the Japanese press his whole adult life 21 Due to the high profile nature of his two way efforts the Fighters protected Ohtani from some of the media onslaught while Ohtani tended to keep to the team dormitory and the gym leading a semi monastic baseball centric existence a byproduct for holding down two jobs in the big leagues and doing both at an elite level 21 While not fluent Ohtani can speak English and knows Spanish but prefers to speak to the media through an interpreter translating his native Japanese to English 177 Ippei Mizuhara is Ohtani s personal interpreter with the Los Angeles Angels and has known him since Ohtani was 18 starting in 2013 during Ohtani s days with the Fighters 178 Mizuhara s role as Ohtani s personal interpreter ranges from confidante to conditioning coach and throwing partner to making sure Ohtani understands and is understood 179 The interpreter steps into any number of sub duties including Ohtani s agenda preparation play recovery media availability breaking down advanced analytics and recovery timetables between Ohtani and the Angels organization 179 After Ohtani joined the Angels Mizuhara suggested to Ohtani as an icebreaker to combine his hobby of playing video games by downloading Clash Royale with the rest of the clubhouse 179 180 When Ohtani announced in September 2017 that he wanted to pursue a career in MLB 44 he signed with CAA Sports for representation Ohtani is represented by agent Nez Balelo of CAA Sports since 2017 181 Ohtani was listed in Forbes 30 under 30 Asia class of 2018 in the field of Entertainment amp Sports 182 For his historic campaign in 2021 Ohtani was named to Time 100 s list of most influential people of 2021 123 and awarded the Commissioner s Historic Achievement Award by Commissioner Rob Manfred 3 Additionally Ohtani s 2021 season was recognized for two Guinness World Records titles 1 the first MLB player to achieve 100 innings and record 100 strikeouts as a pitcher and 100 RBIs hits and runs as a batter in a single season and 2 the first player to start the MLB All Star Game as a pitcher and a designated hitter 130 Ohtani was also offered Japan s national honor the People s Honour Award by the Prime Minister of Japan in recognition of his accomplishments but Ohtani rejected it saying it was still too early for such an award 131 Endorsements Edit In August 2022 Ohtani became a brand ambassador for Porsche Japan as part of their Porsche Driving Athlete family 183 As of April 2022 update Ohtani endorsement earnings tripled from 2021 to an estimated MLB league leading 20 million off the field proving to be a marketing hit on both sides of the Pacific with a group of 15 partnerships that included renewals among his partners Fanatics Topps and Panini in the U S and Asics Descente and Hugo Boss in Japan as well as new deals with FTX Kowa Mitsubishi Bank and Salesforce 184 Ohtani is the cover athlete of MLB The Show 22 185 and is the first Asian player to be featured as the cover star of MLB The Show 186 On February 9 2022 Ohtani appeared in the Nintendo Direct to promote MLB The Show 22 as it was the first installment in the franchise to appear on a Nintendo console In the direct two versions of Ohtani one in hitting gear the other in pitching gear stood side by side holding devices The use of Ohtani to promote it was seen as tying to his Japanese nationality as Nintendo is based in Japan 187 On July 20 2021 Ohtani signed an exclusive multiyear memorabilia deal with Fanatics 188 In 2021 Ohtani had an estimated MLB league leading 6 million in annual endorsement deals which included Asics Descente Japan Airlines Nishikawa Co and Seiko Watch in Japan and Hugo Boss New Era Panini Fanatics Oakley and Topps in the United States 189 On November 16 2021 it was announced that Ohtani joined cryptocurrency exchange FTX as a global ambassador 190 partnering on various animal charitable initiatives 191 In November 2022 FTX filed for bankruptcy wiping out billions of dollars in customer funds Ohtani alongside other spokespeople is currently being sued for promoting unregistered securities through a class action lawsuit 192 193 In February 2022 the U S 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit against Bitconnect that the Securities Act of 1933 extends to targeted solicitation using social media 194 In 2023 it was announced that Ohtani was now an ambassador for New Balance and would wear their gear on the field Ohtani had previously worn exclusive Asics gear on field before making the transition to New Balance 195 See also Edit Japan portal Baseball portalList of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders List of Major League Baseball players from Japan Major League Baseball Player of the Week Award Major League Baseball Rookie of the Month Award Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle All MLB TeamNotes Edit As both a designated hitter and a starting pitcher As a designated hitter As a starting pitcher As a starting pitcher As a designated hitterReferences Edit Shohei Otani named WBSC player of the year for 2015 The Japan Times October 16 2017 Retrieved July 6 2021 a b 木下大輔 April 11 2018 日本ハム中田３号 俺が元祖 ＳＨＯ ＴＩＭＥ だ 日刊スポーツ in Japanese Retrieved September 6 2019 a b c d e f Castrovince Anthony October 26 2021 Ohtani wins Historic Achievement Award MLB com Retrieved October 26 2021 a b c Bollinger Rhett October 5 2022 Ohtani makes history again becoming 1st player to do this MLB com Retrieved October 6 2022 a b c d Father of baseball star Ohtani coached son with life tips in very ordinary upbringing Mainichi Daily News December 11 2017 Retrieved October 7 2021 a b c d e f g Hernandez Dylan September 29 2017 Column Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani could be double threat in big leagues Los Angeles Times Retrieved October 7 2021 a b c 大谷 年俸１億円 松坂以来史上２人目の高卒３年目 大台 Sponichi Annex December 5 2014 Retrieved December 5 2014 Hernandez Dylan September 29 2017 Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani could be double threat in big leagues Los Angeles Times Retrieved October 10 2017 Hernandez Dylan December 12 2017 Column The next Shohei Ohtani is already waiting in the wings Los Angeles Times Retrieved October 7 2021 a b Verducci Tom September 14 2021 The Ohtani Rules Sports Illustrated Retrieved October 5 2021 Hernandez Dylan April 27 2021 Column Shohei Ohtani s Ruthian two way journey began in Japan accelerated under Joe Maddon Los Angeles Times Retrieved October 7 2021 a b Feinsand Mark October 22 2012 Yanks intrigued by Japanese teen phenom with 100 mph fastball New York Daily News Retrieved March 21 2018 Belson Ken October 24 2012 Hoping to Skip Japan League for U S The New York Times Retrieved December 6 2017 Sullivan T R Rangers interested in Japanese righty Ohtani MLB com Retrieved March 21 2018 Cherington confirms team has met with Ohtani Archived from the original on October 26 2012 Retrieved March 21 2018 This page has been removed News Retrieved March 21 2018 via www theguardian com Japanese high school fireballer opting for MLB October 21 2012 Retrieved March 21 2018 Miller Doug Fans taken by Ohtani s set of skills innocence www mlb com Retrieved November 29 2017 A Japanese propaganda film helped Shohei Ohtani follow a path to making baseball history Insider com Retrieved April 27 2021 Hernandez Dylan July 12 2021 Column From Shohei Ohtani to Naomi Osaka Japanese athletes dominate during golden era Los Angeles Times a b c Lindbergh Ben July 12 2021 Inside Shohei Ohtani s Superhero Origin Story The Ringer Retrieved July 28 2021 Coskrey Jason May 24 2013 Fighters rookie Otani makes solid impression in mound debut The Japan Times Miller Doug November 29 2017 Fans taken by Ohtani s set of skills innocence MLB com Ogawa Norimoto win Rookie of the Year awards The Japan Times November 25 2013 Ohtani may create unique challenge The Japan Times Retrieved September 9 2014 Ohtani hits HR to notch rare double The Japan News September 7 2014 default Sanspo com September 14 2014 Ohtani fireballs lead PL past CL in All Star Game 2 The Japan Times Retrieved July 19 2014 September 8 release 日本野球機構 NPB or jp September 8 2014 大谷 ついに出た１６２キロ 日本人最速 公式戦最速タイ Sponichi Annex October 5 2014 Retrieved November 18 2014 Samurai Japan unveils remaining players for MLB series The Japan Times October 9 2014 Retrieved October 9 2014 Ohtani impresses visiting MLB stars The Japan Times Retrieved November 20 2014 Hiroshima s Kenta Maeda wins 2015 Sawamura Award yakyubaka com Retrieved February 15 2016 Berg Ted May 22 2015 Japanese righty Shohei Otani throws 100 mph and plays DH on off days For The Win USA Today Bertha Mike November 8 2015 Japanese two way prodigy Shohei Ohtani is already dominating at the Premier 12 tournament MLB com Coskrey Jason November 25 2016 Otani makes history with Best Nine selection at both pitcher and DH The Japan Times Coskrey Jason Nagatsuka Kaz November 29 2016 Otani Arai win MVP awards The Japan Times Coskrey Jason July 16 2016 Fellow All Stars rave about Otani s special talents The Japan Times Axisa Mike September 14 2016 WATCH Shohei Otani breaks his own record throws Japan s fastest pitch ever CBS Sports Birenbaum Jonah March 14 2017 Watch Otani launches mammoth HR in NPB exhibition theScore com Here are four reasons why Shohei Ohtani was named MLB Pipeline s No 1 prospect MLB com January 27 2018 2016年度 表彰選手 投票結果 ベストナイン npb jp Retrieved January 27 2017 The file on Shohei Ohtani RSN a b Kram Zach September 13 2017 Shohei Ohtani the Most Exciting Player in the World Is Coming to MLB The Ringer Shohei Otani Hope to do my best in America from next year on ESPN November 10 2017 Retrieved November 11 2017 In Short Order Shohei Otani is an even better hitter than you probably expected MLB Retrieved November 17 2017 Shohei Ohtani s path to MLB cleared after new posting agreement is reached before deadline November 21 2017 Retrieved March 21 2018 Angels Shohei Ohtani beats Yankees duo to win AL Rookie of the Year Retrieved November 12 2018 Angels officially welcome 2 way star Ohtani MLB Retrieved December 9 2017 Angels Shohei Ohtani had platelet rich plasma injection in pitching elbow GM confirms ESPN December 13 2017 Retrieved December 13 2017 Berg Ted February 26 2018 It s really happening Two days after pitching Shohei Ohtani will DH for the Angels For The Win USA Today This shouldn t really qualify as news as the Angels have made it clear since they signed Shohei Ohtani in December that they would allow him to continue working as both a pitcher and a hitter like he did successfully in the NPB in Japan Gutierrez Paul March 30 2018 Angels Ohtani Never going to forget first at bat a single ESPN com Retrieved March 30 2018 Guardado Maria April 1 2018 Sho time Ohtani dazzles in mound debut MLB com Guardado Maria April 3 2018 Shohei Ohtani hits first MLB home run MLB com Retrieved August 3 2021 Guardado Maria April 7 2018 Ohtani homers in his third straight game MLB com Retrieved August 3 2021 Yang Avery April 8 2018 Shohei Ohtani retires first 19 fans 12 over 7 scoreless MLB com Retrieved April 8 2018 Guardado Maria April 17 2018 Shohei Ohtani exits game with blister on finger MLB com Retrieved April 18 2018 Guardado Maria June 8 2018 Shohei Ohtani has UCL sprain placed on DL MLB com Retrieved June 8 2018 Angels Shohei Ohtani activated from DL goes 0 for 4 versus M s ESPN com Associated Press July 2 2018 Retrieved July 10 2018 Shohei Ohtani homers twice his first two on the road MLB August 3 2018 Retrieved August 3 2018 Shohei Ohtani ready to pitch Sunday after nursing 11 week UCL injury ESPN August 30 2018 Retrieved August 31 2018 Shohei Ohtani keeps making MLB history even as he weighs having Tommy John surgery USA Today September 7 2018 a b Ohtani has successful Tommy John surgery MLB October 1 2018 Retrieved October 1 2018 Shohei Ohtani named AL Rookie of the Year by Baseball Digest Fox Sports October 31 2018 Shohei Ohtani earns second Rookie of the Month award Fox Sports October 2018 Gonzalez Alden September 5 2018 Shohei Ohtani slams 2 homers after Tommy John surgery recommendation ESPN Gonzalez Alden September 26 2018 Angels Shohei Ohtani will have Tommy John at start of offseason ESPN Retrieved September 27 2018 Schoenfield David November 12 2018 Ohtani tops Yanks duo for AL Rookie of the Year ESPN com Retrieved March 11 2023 Schmehl James May 7 2019 Ohtani activated as DH hitting 3rd tonight MLB com Retrieved June 1 2022 Townsend Mark June 13 2019 Shohei Ohtani becomes first Japanese born player to hit for the cycle Yahoo Sports Retrieved June 13 2019 Bollinger Rhett September 12 2019 Ohtani to have left knee surgery season over MLB com Retrieved June 1 2022 Simon Andrew July 6 2020 MLB s 60 game schedule for 2020 unveiled MLB com Archived from the original on November 1 2020 Retrieved July 8 2020 Yomtov Jesse July 25 2020 Shohei Ohtani makes blunder as first baserunner under MLB s new extra inning rule USA TODAY Retrieved July 25 2020 Bollinger Rhett July 26 2020 Ohtani s return goes awry 5 runs no outs MLB com Retrieved May 17 2021 Bollinger Rhett August 3 2020 Shohei flexor won t throw for 4 6 weeks MLB com Retrieved August 3 2020 Beacham Greg August 4 2020 Maddon Shohei Ohtani won t pitch again for Angels this year Associated Press Retrieved August 5 2020 Stephen Eric December 21 2020 2020 Angels in review Shohei Ohtani Halos Heaven Retrieved June 1 2022 a b c d e Lindbergh Ben March 9 2021 The Dream of Shohei Ohtani Is Alive The Ringer Retrieved March 9 2021 a b c d Harris Jack February 18 2021 Angels two way star Shohei Ohtani is happy to be free of restrictions on his use Los Angeles Times Miller Scott May 14 2021 Shohei Ohtani Unleashed The New York Times Retrieved October 5 2021 Angels Shohei Ohtani Avoids two years of arbitration CBS Sports February 8 2021 Retrieved July 18 2021 Snyder Matt April 4 2021 Shohei Ohtani hits 101 mph on the radar gun a 450 foot home run and leaves two way start after awkward fall CBS Sports Retrieved July 18 2021 Bollinger Rhett April 4 2021 Ohtani CRUSHES HR in first two way start MLB com Retrieved July 18 2021 Angels Shohei Ohtani Scratched with blister CBS Sports April 8 2021 Retrieved July 18 2021 Fletcher Jeff April 19 2021 Angels Shohei Ohtani will be on a pitch count and won t hit when he returns to the mound Tuesday Orange County Register Retrieved July 18 2021 Bollinger Rhett April 26 2021 Ohtani K s 9 drives in 2 runs makes history MLB com Retrieved July 18 2021 Harris Jack April 27 2021 Shohei Ohtani goes from disaster to magnificent in Angels win over Rangers Los Angeles Times Retrieved July 18 2021 Angels Shohei Ohtani first pitcher to compete in Home Run Derby The Athletic June 18 2021 Retrieved June 23 2021 Adler David June 21 2021 Players of the Week Ohtani Schwarber MLB com Retrieved June 21 2021 Harrigan Thomas July 6 2021 Players of the Week Ohtani Albies MLB com Retrieved July 6 2021 Bollinger Rhett June 23 2021 Why not Ohtani Angels make DH history MLB com Retrieved July 21 2021 Harrigan Thomas July 2 2021 Ohtani Schwarber named June s top players MLB com Retrieved July 2 2021 Baer Jack July 2 2021 Shohei Ohtani makes all kinds of history with 30th homer of season Yahoo Sports a b Bollinger Rhett July 4 2021 Trailblazer Ohtani in ASG as hitter pitcher MLB com Retrieved July 4 2021 Harris Jack Castillo Jorge July 1 2021 Angels Shohei Ohtani Mike Trout selected as All Star game starters Los Angeles Times Retrieved July 6 2021 Beacham Greg July 8 2021 Ohtani hits 32nd HR tops Matsui s Japanese sluggers record The Charlotte Observer Retrieved July 8 2021 a b Berry Adam July 11 2021 Osaka Naomi Ohtani Shohei win ESPY awards NHK WORLD Retrieved July 19 2021 2021 MLB All Star Home Run Derby Results bracket and highlights as stars swung for the fences in Denver ESPN com July 12 2021 Retrieved July 13 2021 Bollinger Rhett July 14 2021 Ohtani earns historic win with perfect 1st MLB com Retrieved July 22 2021 Fletcher Jeff July 16 2021 Shohei Ohtani donates Home Run Derby earnings to Angels support staff OC Register Retrieved July 27 2021 Owens Jason July 12 2021 All Star Game Shohei Ohtani named AL starting pitcher after MLB bends rules for Kevin Cash MLB com Retrieved July 14 2021 Guerrero Daniel July 26 2021 Los Angeles Angels manager Joe Maddon says star Shohei Ohtani should win the AL MVP award It s not even close MLB com Retrieved July 27 2021 Gonzalez Alden July 26 2021 Ohtani pitches hits and runs through Rox ESPN com Retrieved July 27 2021 Bollinger Rhett July 29 2021 Ohtani steals way into record books in loss MLB com Retrieved August 2 2021 Harrigan Thomas August 2 2021 Ohtani Schwarber named June s top players MLB com Retrieved August 2 2021 Bollinger Rhett August 19 2021 Whoa Ohtani s best game yet 40th HR 8 IP MLB com Retrieved October 4 2021 Castillo Mo August 30 2021 What did Shohei Ohtani do this week Become the first Japanese born player to go 40 20 Yahoo Sports Retrieved September 9 2021 Bollinger Rhett August 28 2021 Sho shakes off injury makes Halos history MLB com Retrieved September 9 2021 Bollinger Rhett September 21 2021 Ohtani smacks HR No 45 one off MLB lead MLB com Retrieved September 27 2021 Bollinger Rhett September 25 2021 Ohtani joins Giants legend Mays in exclusive stat club MLB com Retrieved September 27 2021 a b Bollinger Rhett September 25 2021 Ohtani a triple threat as Halos rout Mariners MLB com Retrieved September 27 2021 Bollinger Rhett September 24 2021 Fearsome Ohtani walking at historic rate MLB com Retrieved September 27 2021 Ohtani named team MVP and Pitcher of Year NHK September 25 2021 Archived from the original on October 4 2021 Retrieved October 4 2021 Bollinger Rhett September 26 2021 An absolute ace Sho K s 10 in home finale MLB com Retrieved September 27 2021 a b c d Bollinger Rhett October 3 2021 46 HRs 100 RBIs Shohei caps dream season MLB com Retrieved October 4 2021 a b Register Players Encyclopedia Baseball Reference com Baseball Reference com Retrieved March 21 2018 Castrovince Anthony November 18 2021 A 2 way and a 2 time MVP in Ohtani Bryce MLB com Retrieved November 19 2021 Fletcher Jeff November 18 2021 Angels Shohei Ohtani wins American League MVP Orange County Register Retrieved November 18 2021 Castrovince Anthony November 23 2021 The 21 All MLB Team is here And it s stacked MLB com Retrieved November 23 2021 Bollinger Rhett November 29 2021 Ohtani wins 2021 Edgar Martinez DH Award MLB com Retrieved November 29 2021 Ohtani Wins This Year s Edgar Martinez DH Award Nippon com November 30 2021 Retrieved November 30 2021 2021 Los Angeles Angels Statistics Baseball Reference com Sports Reference LLC Retrieved November 11 2021 a b Rodriguez Alex September 15 2021 The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 Shohei Ohtani Time Retrieved September 15 2021 a b Beacham Greg December 28 2021 One of a kind Ohtani wins AP Male Athlete of Year award AP News Retrieved December 28 2021 a b Foster Jason December 31 2021 Shohei Ohtani is the 2021 Sporting News Athlete of the Year Sporting News Retrieved December 31 2021 Ladson Bill October 7 2021 Ohtani is Baseball Digest s Player of the Year MLB com Retrieved October 7 2021 Glaser Kyle October 22 2021 Shohei Ohtani Is Baseball America s 2021 MLB Player Of The Year Baseball America Retrieved October 25 2021 Fagan Ryan October 28 2021 Beyond incredible Shohei Ohtani constantly left MLB peers in awe during historic 2021 season Sporting News Retrieved October 28 2021 Randhawa Manny October 28 2021 The 2021 Players Choice Award winners are MLB com Retrieved October 29 2021 a b Tokyo Tower to light the sky in Angels colors to celebrate Shohei Ohtani s MVP season MLB com November 18 2021 Retrieved June 1 2022 a b Lies Elaine November 21 2021 Japan floated idea of national honour for MLB s Ohtani but he declined Reuters Retrieved June 1 2022 Fagan Ryan December 22 2021 The 50 greatest seasons in sports history ranked Sporting News Retrieved December 27 2021 Baer Jack March 22 2022 MLB adds Shohei Ohtani rule to universal DH Yahoo Sports Retrieved March 23 2022 Shohei Ohtani 2021 Fielding Game Log Baseball Reference Retrieved March 23 2022 Bollinger Rhett March 25 2022 Opening Day Sho time Ohtani to pitch 1st MLB com Retrieved March 25 2022 Gonzalez Alden April 7 2022 Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani strikes out nine hitless at plate in loss to Astros ESPN Retrieved April 8 2022 Bollinger Rhett April 7 2022 What else is new Ohtani makes more history MLB com Retrieved April 8 2022 Dean Richard April 20 2022 Ohtani flirts with perfecto after making history at plate MLB com MLB Advanced Media Retrieved April 21 2022 Halicke Chris April 14 2021 Rangers Jonah Heim Hits First Grand Slam Against Shohei Ohtani in 10 5 Win Over Angels SI com Retrieved May 10 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Apstein Stephanie May 5 2022 Shohei Ohtani Shows Off His Unbelievable Talents to Dominate Red Sox at Fenway SI com Sports Illustrated Retrieved May 9 2022 a b c d e Bollinger Rhett October 6 2022 Shohei Ohtani making history MLB com Retrieved October 7 2022 Shohei Ohtani went yard twice on Monday for his 8th career multi HR game breaking a tie with Ichiro for the most multi HR games by a Japanese born player in MLB history Twitter com ESPNStatsInfo May 10 2022 Retrieved May 10 2022 Bollinger Rhett May 9 2022 Having the most fun right now Ohtani hits first slam as a pro MLB com MLB Advanced Media Retrieved May 10 2022 Bollinger Rhett May 15 2022 Ohtani becomes third Japanese player to join 100 homer club MLB com MLB Advanced Media Retrieved May 15 2022 Wexler Sarah June 9 2022 Sho stopper Ohtani does it all as Halos end skid MLB com MLB Advanced Media Retrieved June 23 2022 a b Bollinger Rhett June 22 2022 Historic 2 game Sho 8 RBIs new high 13 K s MLB com MLB Advanced Media Retrieved June 23 2022 Bollinger Rhett June 22 2022 Sho stunner Two HRs career high 8 RBIs MLB com MLB Advanced Media Retrieved June 23 2022 a b Leckie Paige July 6 2022 He can t quench his thirst Ohtani s latest act another marvel MLB com MLB Advanced Media Retrieved July 7 2022 Bollinger Rhett July 8 2022 Ohtani Trout win starting spots for AL at ASG MLB com Retrieved July 15 2022 Bollinger Rhett July 10 2022 History repeats Ohtani a two way All Star again MLB com Retrieved July 15 2022 Bollinger Rhett July 18 2022 Ohtani to slug but not pitch in All Star Game MLB com Retrieved August 11 2022 Chen Sonja August 10 2022 Quite a Sho Ohtani ties Ruth passes Ichiro in same game MLB com Retrieved August 11 2022 Bollinger Rhett August 30 2022 Ohtani is 1st player with 30 homers 10 wins MLB com Retrieved August 11 2022 a b Bollinger Rhett October 1 2022 Ohtani inks 30M deal for 23 gets 2 awards extends career best hit streak MLB com Retrieved October 7 2022 Major League Leaderboards 2022 Batters Statcast FanGraphs Baseball www fangraphs com Statcast Custom Leaderboards DICTIONARY COM ADDS OVER 4 000 NEW UPDATED AND REVISED WORDS TO THE WORLD S PREMIER CATALOG OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE prnewswire com October 4 2022 Retrieved October 7 2022 XXV 18U Baseball World Championship 2012 World Baseball Softball Confederation Retrieved May 23 2022 WBSC names Annual Award winners Baseball Softball Player Coach Umpire and Federation of the Year wbsc org October 15 2017 Archived from the original on July 16 2021 Retrieved October 10 2017 Anderson R J Axisa Mike February 3 2017 2017 World Baseball Classic Shohei Otani the player we all wanted to see won t play CBSports com Retrieved December 6 2017 Coskrey Jason March 8 2023 Shohei Ohtani ready to lead powerful Japan at World Baseball Classic The Japan Times Retrieved March 11 2023 Murphy Brian March 14 2023 Dominant Ohtani named Classic Pool B MVP MLB com retrieved March 15 2023 Axisa Mike March 21 2023 World Baseball Classic Shohei Ohtani awarded WBC MVP after closing out championship in Japan s win over USA CBS Sports Retrieved March 21 2023 a b Shohei Ohtani Stats Fantasy amp News MLB com 早実 清宮の進路 東大 宮台に注目 来年ドラフト 大学 社会人 日刊スポーツ nikkansports com in Japanese Retrieved May 17 2021 Otani eyes MLB move after next season December 5 2016 Retrieved March 21 2018 via Japan Times Online Baseball Angels Shohei Ohtani hammered leaves with blister Kyodo News April 18 2018 Ohtani called his pitch a forkball Adler David May 5 2021 The most unhittable pitch in baseball is back MLB com Retrieved June 1 2022 We re talking about Shohei Ohtani s splitter Ropp Rudy February 27 2018 Shohei Ohtani is making fantasy baseball leagues face difficult choices OC Register Retrieved September 11 2018 Oelman Marshall October 20 2016 The Most Interesting Prospect in Baseball Scout com Archived from the original on December 5 2016 Retrieved December 24 2016 Shohei Ohtani Japanese Leagues Statistics amp History Baseball Reference Retrieved January 19 2018 Otani Becomes MLB Free Agent After Posting Deal Approved CBS New York December 1 2017 Retrieved April 12 2018 a b c d Lindbergh Ben October 7 2021 Ten Stats That Sum Up Shohei Ohtani s Historic 2021 Season The Ringer Retrieved October 7 2021 Hernandez Dylan September 29 2017 Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani could be double threat in big leagues Los Angeles Times Retrieved December 2 2017 Austin Darius July 19 2021 Need for Speed Shohei Ohtani Special Baseball Prospectus Retrieved October 25 2021 A look at some of Shohei Ohtani s historical accomplishments this season for the Angels Twitter com Angels PR October 3 2021 Retrieved October 25 2021 Bumbaca Chris July 12 2021 Stephen A Smith on Shohei Ohtani Don t think it helps that the No 1 face is a dude that needs an interpreter USA Today Retrieved October 7 2021 Bollinger Rhett July 10 2021 Ohtani s interpreter to catch in HR Derby MLB com Retrieved October 7 2021 a b c O Connell Robert June 21 2021 A Game of Speech But Also For Baseball Interpreters So Much More Sports Illustrated Retrieved October 8 2021 Gonzalez Alden September 12 2019 Shohei Ohtani can hit pitch and keep his teammates laughing ESPN com Retrieved October 8 2021 Hernandez Dylan November 6 2017 Japanese star Shohei Ohtani reportedly chooses CAA Sports to represent him in the U S a sign he s ready to play in the majors Los Angeles Times Retrieved September 15 2021 30 UNDER 30 ENTERTAINMENT amp SPORTS Forbes Retrieved December 8 2021 Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani looks slick in a photo shoot for Porsche sportskeeda August 19 2022 Retrieved October 7 2022 Birnbaum Justin April 6 2022 Thanks To A Show Stopping 2021 Shohei Ohtani s Endorsement Earnings Have Tripled In A Year Forbes com Retrieved April 21 2022 Russell Ramone January 31 2022 Shohei Ohtani Unanimous AL MVP is your MLB The Show 22 cover athlete playstation com PlayStation Blog Retrieved January 31 2022 Russell Ramone January 31 2022 Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani on cover of MLB the Show 22 espn com ESPN Retrieved January 31 2022 MLB The Show 22 Gameplay Reveal Nintendo Switch YouTube Nintendo February 9 2022 Hajducky Dan July 20 2021 Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani lands exclusive memorabilia deal with Fanatics Forbes Retrieved July 21 2021 Birnbaum Justin July 8 2021 How MLB Superstar Shohei Ohtani Made 6 Million In Endorsements Without Even Trying Forbes com Retrieved July 14 2021 Egan Matt November 16 2021 MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani takes a stake in crypto firm FTX CNN com Retrieved May 23 2022 Padovano Peter November 16 2021 MLB Superstar Shohei Ohtani Joins FTX as Global Ambassador Through Long Term Partnership CNN com Retrieved May 23 2022 Florio Mike November 16 2022 Tom Brady is sued in connection with FTX collapse ProFootballTalk Retrieved November 16 2022 Zeitchik Steven Mark Julian December 14 2022 Tom Brady pushed crypto to his fans This lawyer wants him to pay up The Washington Post Retrieved December 14 2022 Lawler Richard February 18 2022 Influencers beware promoting the wrong crypto could mean facing a class action lawsuit The Verge Vox Media Retrieved July 13 2022 Benson Pat January 31 2023 Shohei Ohtani Signs Long Term Deal With New Balance Sports Illustrated Retrieved March 6 2023 Further reading EditWertheim Jon June 20 2021 Shohei Ohtani Japan s Babe Ruth CBS News Retrieved October 27 2021 Miller Doug November 29 2017 A Look at the History of Shohei Ohtani MLB Keown Tim April 6 2018 The One Baseball s Been Waiting For ESPN Retrieved April 6 2018 Lindbergh Ben July 12 2021 Inside Shohei Ohtani s Superhero Origin Story The Ringer Retrieved October 7 2021 Lindbergh Ben October 5 2021 Ten Stats That Sum Up Shohei Ohtani s Historic 2021 Season The Ringer Retrieved October 27 2021 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shohei Ohtani Career statistics and player information from MLB or ESPN or Baseball Reference or Fangraphs or Baseball Reference Minors or Retrosheet Shohei Ohtani on InstagramAchievementsPreceded byJorge Polanco Hitting for the cycleJune 13 2019 Succeeded byJake BauersAwardsPreceded byMarcus Semien American League Player of the MonthJune amp July 2021 Succeeded byJose Abreu Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Shohei Ohtani amp oldid 1146093479, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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