Ohtani Shohei (LA Angels), who became a star in the US major league by ‘pitting double’, also pitches and bats at the same time in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) competition.
Perry Manasian, general manager of the Angels, said on the 6th (Korean time), “WBC will not put any restrictions on Ohtani’s play.” He added, “I look forward to Ohtani pitching, hitting and running, showing off his abilities and showing what a great player he is.”
Ohtani, who debuted in the big leagues in 2018 and became one of the top stars in the major leagues, spent 2021 and 2022 with a successful ‘batting double job’ season.
He became the American League MVP in 2021, and missed the MVP in 2022, being pushed back by Aaron Judge, but established himself as one of the best ‘two-hitters’ players in major league history. 메이저놀이터
As a pitcher in the 2022 season, he went 15-9 with an earned run average of 2.33, and as a hitter, he had a batting average of 2.7 and 3, 34 homers and 95 RBIs in 157 games.
Ohtani was unable to join the Japanese national team early due to a major league demonstration game scheduled to appear, but there is no problem in participating in the WBC tournament. After joining the Angels Spring Training, he pitches in an exhibition game in early March and heads to Japan.
The Angels will play an exhibition game from the 26th. There are 4 games until the 1st of next month. Ohtani plans to join the Japanese national team in training after starting one game.
The Korean national team has no choice but to be interested. This is because Ohtani sees a high possibility of starting against Korea in the first round of the WBC.
Meanwhile, the WBC tournament has a pitch limit. You can throw 65 pitches in the first round, 80 pitches in the second round, and 95 pitches from the semifinals.