TOKYO – Shohei Ohtani met the moment in his return to the Tokyo Dome, because of course he did. In Saturday’s exhibition against the Yomiuri Giants, Ohtani – ever the showman – was quick to slug a home run while wearing a major league uniform in his home country for the first time for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Not that it should come to anyone’s surprise.
“I’m surprised it took two at-bats, honestly,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said of Ohtani’s solo blast off his former World Baseball Classic teammate, Shosei Togo, in the Dodgers’ 5-1 win.
“In big moments he seems to just do what the fans want him to do,” Dodgers outfielder Michael Conforto.
Ohtani’s fellow countrymen, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, stood up next to each other in the dugout and watched in awe as the home run went halfway up the bleachers in right field. There is no bigger star in this country, or even in this sport, than Ohtani. But he seemingly never fails to deliver when all eyes are on him.
“I was expecting that he would hit a home run and he did,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “Just like I expected.”
SHOHEI OHTANI HOMERS AT THE TOKYO DOME! #TOKYOSERIES pic.twitter.com/04dK1gKnt5
— MLB (@MLB) March 15, 2025
The unofficial ambassador of this season-opening series has been hard to miss. A steady stream of commercials featuring Ohtani played throughout the broadcast of both the Dodgers’ exhibitions against the Giants and the Hanshin Tigers. Tens of thousands of Japanese fans at the Tokyo Dome, most wearing his jersey, stood in silence with their phones in hand for each of Ohtani’s at-bats, hoping to capture his greatness.
“When he was at-bat, it was complete silence,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Every time he did something – take a swing, foul a ball off – there was just a gasp. I think that it was a great welcome but I think there was just so much anticipation to see anything he did, which was different than any one of our other players.”
It’s been impossible to ignore Ohtani’s presence just about everywhere in Tokyo. During a clip captured on the Dodgers’ social media feed, starter Blake Snell was patrolling Family Mart – which, along with Lawson and 7 Eleven is among the most popular of Japan’s bounty of convenience stores – and noticed one of several advertisements showing Ohtani and poked some fun with it.
“There’s a lot of love for Shohei here,” Snell said. “It’s pretty apparent.”
When you see an ad for Shohei. 😂 pic.twitter.com/6sS1SvIUPr
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 15, 2025
Sunday night, Ohtani will try to demonstrate much of his culture to his teammates, spearheading an effort along with Yamamoto and Sasaki to host a private, players’ only dinner featuring one of the city’s premier sushi chefs and yakitori – Japanese chicken skewers.
“What I’ve noticed is he’s not the type of guy who will lead the team by talking,” Yamamoto said. “It’s more by action. He’s trying to lead the team with his actions.”
“They’ve been doing their best to make sure we get the full experience,” Dodgers utility man Chris Taylor added.
A new Yoshinobu Yamamoto in year two
A year removed from what Roberts called a “debacle” of a major league debut last season in Seoul, South Korea, the Dodgers have done nothing but rave about Yamamoto this spring. Much of the organization’s decision to start Yamamoto on Opening Day was set in stone before anyone even reported to camp – after all, the Tokyo Series presented an opportunity for Yamamoto to square off against the Chicago Cubs’ Shota Imanaga in the first-ever Opening Day matchup of Japanese-born pitchers.
But Yamamoto has impressed nonetheless as he enters the second year of the richest contract ever handed out to a pitcher, a 12-year, $325 million deal to woo the three-time Sawamura award winner with the Orix Buffaloes.
“I think the biggest thing is confidence, which you have to go through the experience (in the big leagues) to gain more confidence,” Roberts said of watching Yamamoto this spring.
Much has changed in the 12 months since the Dodgers had Yamamoto make his debut against the San Diego Padres at the Gocheok Sky Dome. That night, put simply, was a calamity. The Dodgers, already the subject of a budding national story after firing Ohtani’s then-interpeter Ippei Mizuhara for theft, sent out Yamamoto and watched him last just one inning, allowing five runs and appearing rattled in his first taste of the major leagues.
The outing, Yamamoto said, was a “failure.” What he did after that showed why he was regarded as one of the preeminent pitching talents on the planet. He showed an ability to evolve over the course of his first few months in the big leagues, tweaking his mechanics and pitch usage to settle down and become an effective starter through June. A strained rotator cuff cost him multiple months in the middle of the season, but Yamamoto returned and threw some of his best innings in October, rallying from a disappointing postseason debut to throw five scoreless innings in a winner-take-all Game 5 against those same Padres in the National League Division Series. In his World Series debut, he pitched into the seventh inning and allowed just one hit against the New York Yankees.
All the while, he found ways to be effective. Yamamoto learned to lean on his slider when his back was against the wall. He implemented a cutter and a sinker midseason. This spring, Roberts said, he’s learned to trust his fastball in the zone, jumping ahead and establishing count leverage rather than constantly try to live on the edges of the strike zone.
“There were a lot of things that I learned from that mistake (in Korea),” Yamamoto said. “I still felt responsibility for losing that game. But over the course of the whole season, I learned a lot.”
Yamamoto’s fellow Japanese peers tower over him quite literally, as he showed in trying to get on his tip-toes for a photo opportunity with Ohtani and Sasaki earlier this week. Ohtani will always be the biggest name. Sasaki, like Yamamoto a year ago, will have a chance to debut on an international stage.
But eyes still remain trained to Yamamoto, who still feels he has room to grow. Clayton Kershaw, who flew separately for the trip with his family in hopes of witnessing the Dodgers’ Japanese influence in person, opted to have Yamamoto as his catch and long toss partner on Saturday, a special moment between a three-time Sawamura award winner and three-time Cy Young winner.
“Baseball-wise, of course, but also his humanity, I admire him very much in every way,” Yamamoto said. “He’s an example. Just being in the same space as him, I feel as if I’ll become better at baseball.”
Mookie Betts questionable for Opening Day
Mookie Betts did not participate in either of the Dodgers’ exhibition contests at the Tokyo Dome and remains questionable to appear in the club’s opener due to an illness he sustained before the team boarded its flight to Japan, Roberts said.
Betts was scratched from the lineup for the Dodgers’ Cactus League finale on Tuesday and was not present at the Dodgers’ initial workout on Friday. He took ground balls on Saturday and did the same on Sunday, with Roberts saying the plan was for him to start swinging a bat. Betts quipped “I’m alive” on Saturday when asked how he was feeling, though Roberts noted that the All-Star was still dehydrated and had dropped weight over the last week. During his sessions of ground balls on Sunday, he repeatedly took breaks with hands on his knees as Roberts summoned a trainer to get him some water.
“Really showed some fatigue, understandably so,” Roberts said.
Betts is expected to take part in the Dodgers’ optional workout at the Tokyo Dome on Monday morning. Roberts, however, seemed to caution against optimism that Betts will be ready for Opening Day against the Cubs on Tuesday.
“I think that we’re really trying to be mindful of not just Opening Day but not putting him in harm’s way,” Roberts said. “He hasn’t taken live at-bats or played in any games (in a week) and not to put him in a position where he potentially could get hurt.”
If Betts doesn’t show signs of massive improvement by Monday, Roberts said, “I just don’t think the training staff would feel good about that.”
A next wave of Japanese talent gets a mini-showcase
Sunday’s exhibition was perhaps a taste of the talent wave to come in Major League Baseball. The Hanshin Tigers blanked the Dodgers, 3-0, as the Japanese side wound up not allowing a single run in 18 exhibition innings against major league competition.
The Tigers’ stars on Sunday, in particular, figure to be targets for big league clubs to bring over to the United States in the coming years.
Hanshin’s starter, 26-year-old right-hander Hiroto Saiki, threw five scoreless innings and struck out seven, inducing 16 swings and misses while flashing a high-spin fastball that touched 95 mph.
The club’s three runs all came on 26-year-old slugger Teruaki Sato’s homer off two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell.
Saiki “had major-league stuff,” Roberts said, and Sato “looks the part. He’s a really impressive baseball player.”
Shota Morishita, a 24-year-old outfielder, produced a pair of 110-plus mph exit velocities on the day as well.
“It’s exciting to know that they have a lot of interest in coming over to the States,” Roberts said. “We want the best players and they’ve clearly showed they can play at the top level.”
(Top photo: Kenta Harada/Getty Images)
