Everything you need to know about Shohei Ohtani
Welcome to the big dance, Shohei Ohtani.
On Friday, the Los Angeles Angels signed the 23-year-old Japanese sensation, adding one of the most promising and sought-after free agents in the world to its roster.
Ohtani's ability to hit, pitch, and play the outfield - all at advanced levels - interested all 30 MLB teams, who offered their best sales pitches before his eventual signing.
After Ohtani reduced his list to seven finalists in early December, the Angels added one of the biggest prizes and most talented players to ever come out of Japan to a roster that already includes the game's best player, Mike Trout.
With Ohtani now set to spend the first part of his MLB career in Los Angeles, here's everything you need to know about the two-way sensation.
Positions: Pitcher, designated hitter, outfielder
Age: 23
Bats/Throws: Left/Right
Height/Weight: 6-foot-3, 189lbs
Hometown: Oshu, Japan
Previous employer: Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Years in professional baseball: Five
Stats (All levels)
Hitting: 403 G, 1,170 PA, 1,035 AB, 150 R, 296 H, 70 2B, 48 HR, 166 RBI, 13 SB, 119 BB, 316 SO, .286/.358/.500
Pitching: 85 G, 82 GS, 543 IP, 42-15, 2.52 ERA, 13 CG, 7 SHO, 624 SO, 1.07 WHIP
Goals
In high school, Ohtani wrote a list of goals he hoped to accomplish during his life, which were recently aired on a Japanese television show, according to Jessica Kleinschmidt from Cut4.
His goals include:
- Age 18: Join an MLB team
- Age 19: Master English and reach AAA
- Age 20: Called up to the Majors, make 1.5 billion JPY (~$13 million)
- Age 21: Starting rotation, 16 wins
- Age 22: Win the Cy Young Award
- Age 23: Member of Japan WBC team
- Age 24: Throw a no-hitter and 25 wins
- Age 25: Throw fastest pitch in the world 175 kph (~108 mph)
- Age 26: Win the World Series and get married
- Age 27: Member of Japan WBC team & MVP
- Age 28: 1st son is born
- Age 29: Throw 2nd no-hitter
- Age 30: Get most wins by a Japanese pitcher (in 1 MLB season?)
- Age 31: 1st daughter is born
- Age 32: Win 2nd World Series
- Age 33: 2nd son is born
- Age 34: Win 3rd World Series
- Age 35: Member of Japan WBC team
- Age 36: Break the strikeout record?
- Age 37: 1st son starts baseball
- Age 38: Stats drop, start to think about retirement
- Age 39: Decide to retire at end of next season
- Age 40: Throw no-hitter in my very last game
- Age 41: Return to Japan
- Age 42: Introduce the American system to Japan?
Ohtani on the mound
Ohtani at the plate
What have people said about Ohtani?
"He’s kind of like Kristaps Porzingas. He’s a unicorn." - Jason Coskrey from The Japan Times told theScore's Bryan Mcwilliam.
"The numbers alone are a cross between Carlos Correa, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman." - Former ESPN senior writer Jayson Stark told theScore's Brandon Wile.
"He is probably a big-league regular at least, probably a little bit better than that in the field and at the plate, and probably a 1-2 starter on the hill." - Former MLB scout Dave Defer told MLB Network Radio.
"He throws a 100 (mph), has a nasty splitter, nasty slider. His power - he's hitting 500-foot home runs in batting practice. The talent and tools are there. Just knowing him as a person, I think he's going to do just fine. If he does struggle, I don't think it's going to bother him. He's going to keep working hard and those tools are going to come into play." - Chris Martin, former MLB pitcher and Ohtani's teammate, told Christian Red from the New York Daily News.
"He is absolutely a superstar and the transition here will be fine - he will be superstar-caliber here, too. I have played a long time, and I have never seen so much talent from both sides of the game. On the mound, he is dominant; the same from a hitting standpoint. It is impressive. He can run. He can hit for average. He can hit for power. He makes adjustments and hits to all fields." - Brandon Laird, former MLB catcher and Ohtani's teammate, told Joel Sherman from the New York Post.
"A player like this, with two-way ability and extreme pitching ability, does not come along very often in this particular way." - Ken Rosenthal told MLB Network.
Ohtani tidbits
Video games
When Ohtani isn't striking out hitters or knocking balls through the Tokyo Dome roof, he entertains himself with something most other 23-year-olds would be interested in. "He’s into video games," Coskrey said. "I know he’s played Power Pro a little bit. Power Pro Baseball."
Fantasy Football
Ohtani apparently doesn't just unwind by grabbing a PS4 controller. He's also into fantasy football, according to Laird. Ohtani owned a fantasy football team which competed against Laird's in late November.
Dancing
Ohtani's on-field moves have already been widely documented, but he appears to have some pretty sweet chops on the dance floor, too.
Check out his Michael Jackson impression, which included a picture-perfect Moonwalk.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
(Stats courtesy: Baseball Reference)