Shohei Ohtani (29, LA Angels) is expected to fail to join the Japanese baseball team early.
According to Japanese media such as Sports Hochi on the 4th, Angels coach Phil Nevin said, “Ohtani is with us in the early days of spring camp. Before joining the national team, I will make one start,” he said.
The Angels pitcher and catcher team will start spring camp on the 16th. On the 21st, the wild beasts will join, and from the 26th, the demonstration game will begin.
There are 13 to 14 players participating in the WBC from the Angels club. As coach Nevin, he wants to keep them in the team as much as possible in order to improve his organization before the tournament. According to this plan, it is virtually impossible for Ohtani to join the Japanese national team training early.
The Japanese national team plans to team up in Miyazaki from the 17th to the 27th ahead of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).
Previously, Japanese national team coach Hideki Kuriyama expressed his regret at major league clubs that delayed joining major leaguers.
Coach Kuriyama said, “For a really good tournament, isn’t it important for players to prepare for what they want to do?”
In Japan, five major leaguers including Ohtani, Yu Darvish (San Diego Padres), Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs), Las Nuba (St. Louis Cardinals), and Masataka Yoshida (Boston Red Sox) were on the national team. 메이저사이트
Among them, Darvishman decided to join the national team training early under an agreement with the club. All others are in a situation where they can join the national team in March.