No player is likely to receive more attention in this year’s World Baseball Classic than Shohei Ohtani, especially in his native Japan. The two-way superstar last played in front of his home fans in 2017, and he has not disappointed thus far.
Ohtani showed off his pitching skills in Team Japan’s opener Thursday, allowing just one hit in four shutout innings in an 8-1 win over China. Now, he’s produced an offensive highlight to match. The former AL MVP clobbered his first home run of the tournament Sunday with a 448-foot shot off Australia starter Will Sherriff in Japan’s final game of pool play. The first-inning home run gave Japan a 3-0 lead as it continued to dominate Pool B.
The moon shot went so far, Ohtani almost hit his own face on the Tokyo Dome scoreboard, sending fans into a frenzy.
As Japan’s schedule in the first round of the WBC comes to a close, Ohtani ends pool play with three doubles, a home run and a .500 batting average as a hitter. And he got to do it in front of his home fans, creating an electric environment.
Japan went on to defeat Australia, 7-1, to improve to 4-0 in the tournament.
