Shohei Ohtani is about to fulfill his childhood dream of playing in important games, and there’s nothing bigger than the Major League Baseball playoffs. The Japanese superstar isn’t feeling nervous.
“I think the excitement of that is greater than anything else that I could possibly feel,” he said Friday through an interpreter.
Ohtani is getting his first chance in the October playoffs with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will begin the National League Division Series on Saturday against the San Diego Padres, their rival.
He spent the last six years with the Los Angeles Angels, who never had a winning record or made it to the playoffs during his time there.
Ohtani struck out his then-Angels teammate Mike Trout to help Japan win the World Baseball Classic last year.
He was a star both as a pitcher and hitter in Japan before joining MLB. Now, fans from both sides of the Pacific are eager to see what else this record-setting superstar can achieve in October.
“I think it’s more for us as fans to see that it’s something that’s new to him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “If there’s any person that I feel that’s going to be able to handle this, it’s certainly Shohei.”
Ohtani has shown he can change a game with his batting or speed. If he gets a walk, he can steal a base (he had 59 steals in the regular season). He can hit home runs (54) or score from first base.
“He has shown the ability in this last month to use the whole field, to get a hit if he needs to,” Roberts said. “A crazy talented ball player.”
To prepare for the best-of-five NLDS, Ohtani practiced hitting in some simulated games during the Dodgers’ five days off, which they earned for having the best record in baseball at 98-64.
