Shohei Ohtani is a back-to-back World Sequence champion. Now he seeks to develop into a back-to-back World Baseball Traditional champ, too.
Ohtani dedicated to play for Group Japan within the 2026 WBC, the place he hopes to assist defend Japan’s 2023 title within the worldwide event.
“Happy to play and represent Japan again,” Ohtani wrote in Japanese on Instagram.
Ohtani was the MVP of the 2023 WBC, the place he batted .435 with a house run, eight RBI and a 1.345 OPS and pitched to a 1.86 ERA over three appearances, together with two begins.
Right away-classic showdown, Ohtani struck out Group USA’s Mike Trout, then a teammate with the Los Angeles Angels, for the ultimate out of the 2023 championship recreation.
This week’s announcement continues a red-hot run for Ohtani, who’s the two-time defending Nationwide League MVP along with main the Los Angeles Dodgers to World Sequence titles in 2024 and 2025.
It’s unclear if Ohtani will probably be joined on Group Japan by right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, with whom he received the 2023 WBC and each World Sequence with the Dodgers.
Both approach, there will probably be loads of star energy at subsequent 12 months’s WBC.
Yankees slugger Aaron Decide, the back-to-back American League MVP, is the captain of Group USA in what will probably be his first time collaborating within the WBC.
Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, the 2025 NL Cy Younger Award winner, plans to pitch for the U.S.
And Mets shortstop Francisco is returning because the captain of Group Puerto Rico, whom he helped result in the quarterfinal in 2023.
The World Baseball Traditional is about to happen from March 5-17, with video games occurring in Houston, Tokyo, San Juan and Miami. The championship recreation will probably be held at loanDepot Park in Miami.
