ANAHEIM, Calif. —The day before last month’s All-Star Game, Shohei Ohtani said he wanted to play in next March’s World Baseball Classic and was under the impression that the Angels would let him. And on Friday, before the team’s 4-0 home loss to the Minnesota Twins, one of Ohtani’s mentors stopped by for that very reason.
Hideki Kuriyama — who was Ohtani’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters manager and is the manager of the Japanese national baseball team, called Samurai Japan — has been on a nationwide tour to meet with potential Major League Baseball players who could compete for Japan’s WBC team.
Kuriyama had not spoken to Ohtani about the WBC by the time he addressed reporters before the Angels’ game and did not have an answer as to whether Ohtani would play for Japan.
