Shohei Ohtani will play for Japan but will not pitch for the defending champions in next month’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Saturday.
Roberts said Ohtani, the 31-year-old two-way superstar who led the Dodgers to the 2024 and 2025 World Series titles, made the decision to not take the mound until the Dodgers begin this year’s MLB campaign.
Ohtani clinched the 2023 WBC crown for Japan when he struck out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout. Ohtani was named the 2023 WBC Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Photo: AP
Ohtani said he expects to be ready to pitch for the Dodgers when the regular season begins in late next month.
After undergoing two right elbow operations in 2023, Ohtani did not return to the mound for the Dodgers until June last year.
He threw 47 innings last MLB season with a 2.87 earned-run average and 62 strikeouts with only nine walks allowed.
In his first mound appearances in the MLB playoffs, right-hander Ohtani was 2-1 with a 4.43 earned-run average and 28 strikeouts over 20 1/3 innings.
Ohtani, a five-time MLB All-Star and four-time league MVP, will try to help Japan a fourth title in six WBC.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS