The Los Angeles Dodgers are already reaping the benefits of the acquisition of Shohei Ohtani (30) in spring training.
“Dodgers Shohei Ohtani took his third live at-bat at spring training in Glendale, Arizona,” Japanese media outlet SporNichi Annex reported on Thursday (June 24).
Ohtani is one of the biggest stars in the major leagues, with a career batting average of .274 (681-for-2483), 171 home runs, 437 RBIs and a .922 OPS in 716 career games as a hitter and a 38-19 record with a 3.01 ERA in 86 games (481⅔ innings) as a pitcher. Last year, he won his second consecutive unanimous MVP award after batting .497 (151-for-497) with 44 home runs, 95 RBIs and a 1.066 OPS in 135 games as a hitter and going 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 23 games (132 innings) as a pitcher. Ohtani is the first player in major league history to win unanimous MVP honors twice. After the season, 토토사이트 he was eligible for free agency and signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers, making him one of the biggest signings in professional sports history.
Ohtani underwent elbow surgery last September and hasn’t been able to pitch this year.
He’s also not yet back to 100 percent in the batter’s box. His schedule for exhibition games has yet to be finalized, and live betting has only just begun.
Despite the fact that it was known early on that the top star would not be pitching in the exhibition games, a whopping 2,200 fans showed up at Camelback Ranch for the second exhibition game between the Dodgers and San Diego on April 24th. “Despite Ohtani’s absence, the Dodgers’ first home exhibition game drew a camp record 2,200 fans, the largest crowd of the year,” according to the Sporting News Annex. The Dodgers won the game 4-1.
Ohtani didn’t play in the exhibition game, but he did live-bat for the third time. He faced left-hander James Paxton, who joined the Dodgers from Boston this year, and struck out after a five-pitch at-bat. Ohtani finished the day’s live batting with just one at-bat.
“Ohtani spoke with President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman,” the Sporting News Annex reported. ‘We were just talking about baseball,’ Friedman said. We were just talking about baseball,'” said Friedman, emphasizing that the Dodgers are leaving the season’s preparation entirely in Ohtani’s hands.
Ohtani has taken three live bats so far.
In his first live at-bat, he singled in his first at-bat, struck out on a swinging strike in his second at-bat, and homered in his third at-bat, and in his second live at-bat, he singled and grounded out to second base in his two at-bats. Ohtani is aiming to get 50 at-bats before the regular season begins.
The Dodgers will open the season with a two-game series against San Diego on March 20 and 21 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. This will be the first time a major league regular season game will be played in South Korea. It’s even more significant because it’s the opening game. If the Seoul series is successful, South Korea will become the 12th country to host a Major League Baseball game. 파워볼사이트 Seoul will be the fifth time in history that a Major League Baseball regular season opener has been held overseas, joining Monterrey, Mexico; Tokyo, Japan; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Sydney, Australia.
Ohtani said he’s “very confident” he’ll be ready for the Seoul series, though he’s not at full velocity yet. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani will not start an exhibition game until the end of the week. “With 50 at-bats in practice as a benchmark, Ohtani is expected to ramp up his pace by the opening game in Seoul,” said SporNichi Annex, predicting that Ohtani will be ready for the season.
