Ohtani won’t pitch in World Baseball Classic, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch for Japan in the World Baseball Classic in March, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday.

Roberts said it was Ohtani’s decision to focus solely on being the designated hitter for his native country.

He said the team “absolutely” would have supported Ohtani if he had wanted to also pitch. Ohtani’s teammate and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will pitch for Japan in the WBC despite his heavy workload with the Dodgers last season.

“Yoshi feels he wants to take it on and feels good, and we support him,” Roberts said at the team’s fan fest.

Ohtani made two starts for Japan in the 2023 WBC and then came out of the bullpen in the ninth inning to clinch the championship by striking out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out against the United States.

Ohtani tore his ulnar collateral ligament in August that year and later underwent elbow surgery, which kept him from pitching during his first season with the Dodgers in 2024, when he was their full-time designated hitter.

He gradually returned to pitching last year and made four postseason starts during the Dodgers’ run to their second straight World Series championship.