Shohei Ohtani will play for Japan but won’t pitch for the defending champions in March’s World Baseball Classic, 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 himself to not take the mound until the Dodgers begin the 2026 Major League Baseball campaign.
Ohtani clinched the 2023 Classic crown for Japan when he struck out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout. Ohtani was named the 2023 Classic Most Valuable Player.
Ohtani said he expects to be ready to pitch for the Dodgers when the regular season begins in late March.
After undergoing two right elbow operations in 2023, Ohtani did not return to the mound for the Dodgers until last June.
He threw 47 innings in the 2025 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 Classics.
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