Shohei Ohtani (29), a Japanese superstar in the American Professional Baseball Major League (MLB), showed anticipation for a match against the Korean national baseball team, which will reunite in 7 years at the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC). Ohtani on the 17th (Korea Time) Attending the Los Angeles Angels spring camp press conference held at Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, USA, when asked about the WBC match against Korea, he said, “I am well aware of the long history of the match against Japan and Korea, and I have seen many matches between Korea and Japan. Korea is a good team. We will play a good game,” he said. 메이저사이트
This is not the first time Ohtani has faced South Korea. In November 2015, at the age of 21, they clashed at the Premier12. Korea faced Ohtani in the official opening game at the time, giving up 10 strikeouts with 2 hits, 2 walks and no score in 6 innings. In the semifinals, he met Ohtani again, but was tied with 11 strikeouts in 7 innings, 1 hit and no score. Ohtani is expected to pitch in the WBC Korea match to be held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 10th of next month.
Regarding this, Ohtani said, “The WBC Korean national team has changed a lot from the last time we faced it.” “I know that big leaguers will join us this time. I got good results in the last game, but I don’t know what will happen this time.” At the press conference on this day, Ohtana’s start for the opening game for the second year in a row was announced. It is the first time since Jared Weaver, who was in charge of the opening game selection from 2010 to 2015, that the Angels club has been the starting pitcher for the opening game for two consecutive years. The Angels will play an away game against the Oakland Athletics on March 31st.
Last year, in the opening game against the Houston Astros, Ohtani struck out 9 in 4 2/3 innings and gave up 4 hits and 1 run, but he became a losing pitcher. Regarding the prospect of breaking through (approximately 645.7 billion won), Ohtani said, “I haven’t thought about free agency in detail yet,” and said, “I’m only focusing on the season now.”