Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters during DodgerFest on Saturday. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t surprised. I can\u2019t even say I was relieved,” Roberts said<\/a>. “Understanding what he did last year, what he had to go through to then how best to prepare himself for \u201926 to do both\u2014it just seemed like the right decision.\u201d <\/p>\n While Roberts said the decision was made by Ohtani himself, he added that the club would have supported him had he decided to take the mound for Team Japan in March’s World Baseball Classic. Ohtani will instead serve as the designated hitter for Team Japan and attempt to help the club defend its title from 2023, a memorable tournament that saw Ohtani come out of the bullpen in the ninth inning of the championship to face then-teammate Mike Trout, whom he struck out to capture the title. <\/p>\n Ohtani set to be full-time two-way player for first time in three years<\/p>\n Ohtani took the mound in regular season action for the first time as a member of the Dodgers this past season, as the four-time MVP had a long road back from September 2023 elbow surgery, which kept him off the mound until June of 2025. <\/p>\n As such, the Dodgers were careful with Ohtani, limiting him to under 50 innings pitched in the regular season while slowly ramping up his workload until he was stretched out as a starter come the postseason. <\/p>\n Shohei Ohtani on the importance of a healthy offseason and what representing Team Japan in the WBC means to him \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\u26be\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/9fYIL363IC<\/a><\/p>\n