Ohtani Shohei (29)’s early joining of the Japanese baseball team for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) was virtually unsuccessful. After appearing in a major league exhibition game for his team, the Los Angeles Angels, it is likely that he will go to Japan ahead of the tournament.
Angels manager Phil Nevin said in an interview with ‘MLB Network’ on the 4th (Korean time), “Ohtani will spend the early days of spring training with us. He will pitch in one exhibition game before joining the WBC national team.” 바카라
The Angels will begin their demonstration game against the Seattle Mariners on the 26th. The Japanese WBC national team will set up a camp in Miyazaki, Japan, from the 17th to the 27th for a training camp. Joining during this period became virtually difficult.
The Japanese national team wants five major league players, including Ohtani, to join as early as possible. In case of injury, the 12 NPB clubs decided to jointly pay the insurance money, but only pitcher Yu Darvish (San Diego), who received special treatment as a veteran, was confirmed to join.
The joining of outfielders Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs), Masataka Yoshida (Boston), and Lars Nutba (St. Louis), who are more urgent than Ohtani in terms of position composition, have not yet been decided. In Japan, 3 out of 4 outfielders are major leaguers, so unless they join the camp, it is difficult to play a regular practice game.
Meanwhile, Ohtani is training individually in Tampe, Arizona, where the Angels camp was set up last month. The Angels’ pitcher and catcher team will be called to camp on the 16th.