Dodgers manager Dave Roberts answered one key question heading into spring training.
Shohei Ohtani will not pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic in March, Roberts told reporters during Saturday’s annual DodgerFest at Dodger Stadium. The manager added it was Ohtani’s decision and the Dodgers would have allowed him to do so if he had wanted to.
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Ohtani said in November he would participate in the WBC but did not signal at the time whether he would pitch. When Team Japan’s roster was announced Monday, manager Hirokazu Ibata did not say if Ohtani would pitch, only saying they would get a better sense in spring training.
And on Saturday, Ohtani — who spoke to reporters before Roberts did — said he was still unsure if he would pitch in the WBC and it would depend on how he feels as he began ramping up to pitch over the next few weeks. The expectation going into the season, he told reporters, had been he would be able to pitch without restrictions from the start for the Dodgers.
In the 2023 WBC, Ohtani won tournament most valuable player with a .435 batting average and 1.86 ERA, helping Japan to the title. He punctuated the event with his memorable strikeout of his then-Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out in the championship game. But five months later, Ohtani was pulled from a home start against the Cincinnati Reds for what ultimately was revealed to be a torn UCL.
Ohtani had his second career Tommy John surgery in September and did not return to pitching until last June with the Dodgers.
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MLB players like Ohtani and teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto are expected to join Team Japan for exhibition games on March 2. Japan will open WBC play on March 6 against Taiwan.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.