World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto joined his Los Angeles Dodgers team-mate Shohei Ohtani in being named in Japan’s World Baseball Classic squad on Monday as the defending champions completed their roster.<\/p>\n
Yamamoto and Ohtani are among seven current Major League Baseball players in Japan’s squad for the World Cup-like tournament, which is being held in Japan, the United States and Puerto Rico from March 5-17.<\/p>\n
Ohtani, the two-way superstar who helped the Dodgers win a second straight World Series title in November, had already been named in a first raft of squad members announced by manager Hirokazu Ibata last month.<\/p>\n
Yamamoto joined him along with other MLB players including Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs, Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox and Kazuma Okamoto of the Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n
“I feel a great sense of responsibility to represent Japan again,” Yamamoto said in a statement released by the team.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been training hard to be in shape for the World Baseball Classic. These are fantastic team-mates and coaching staff we can trust, and we want to come together and aim for the title.”<\/p>\n
Japan won the tournament for a record-extending third time at the previous tournament in 2023.<\/p>\n
Ohtani\u00a0delivered a fairytale 3-2 victory over the United States in the final in Miami, striking out then-Los Angeles Angels team-mate Mike Trout to clinch the win.<\/p>\n
Japan manager Ibata, who announced his full squad at a packed news conference in Tokyo, said Japan were “only thinking about winning the title”.<\/p>\n
“I’m not so concerned about how we play as long as we win,” he said.<\/p>\n
Lars Nootbaar of the St. Louis Cardinals missed the squad through injury.<\/p>\n
The US-born Nootbaar, whose mother is Japanese, became a huge hit with the Tokyo crowd after being called up for the 2023 tournament.<\/p>\n
Japan have been drawn in a first round pool with South Korea, Australia, Taiwan and the Czech Republic, with all games to be played at the Tokyo Dome.<\/p>\n
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