Ohtani joins countrymen, but unclear if he'll pitch in

Dodgers' star says he's playing for Japan in WBC, with plan for the mound up in air.

- BY JACK HARRIS

ERIC ESPADA Getty Images

TWO-WAY STAR Shohei Ohtani won tournament MVP honors after leading Japan to the championship of the World Baseball Classic in March 2023.

Shohei Ohtani will once again represent Team Japan in next year’s World Baseball Classic.

Whether or not he pitches in the international tournament, however, remains unclear.

On Monday, Ohtani announced on Instagram he is planning to participate in the WBC for the second time in his career.

In the 2023 WBC, he won tournament MVP with a .435 batting average and 1.86 pitching ERA, helping Japan to that year’s title.

He punctuated the event with his memorable strikeout of Mike Trout for the final out in the championship game.

"I'm happy to play again representing Japan," Ohtani wrote in Japanese on Monday.

The question now is whether Ohtani will pitch in the event, which takes place in March, just five months removed from his heavy postseason workload during the Dodgers’ run to a second consecutive World Series title.

At this point, no decision on that front has seemingly been made.