Baseball

Shohei Ohtani ‘looking forward’ to playing in WBC next March

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani speaks to reporters at Haneda Airport on Ocb. 18.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

19:00 JST, November 17, 2022

Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani announced Thursday that he had told Samurai Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama of his intention to play in the 2023 World Baseball Classic to be held next March.

“I am looking forward to playing baseball with great players from different countries and in front of Japanese fans for the first time in five years,” commented Ohtani, 28, who has been playing with the Angels since 2018. He made the statement on Instagram.

Japan will host Pool B of the first round at Tokyo Dome starting on March 9. The other teams in the pool will be Australia, China, the Czech Republic and South Korea.