Profile
Born in Iwate Prefecture in 1994, a two-way pitcher-hitter who has rewritten MLB records and won four MVP awards across both leagues, all four unanimously.
Shohei Ohtani (born July 5, 1994, in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture) is a Japanese professional baseball player renowned for excelling as both a pitcher and a hitter — a “two-way” player not seen at the highest level since the Babe Ruth era. He joined the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2013 after high school and moved to the Los Angeles Angels in 2018.
In MLB, Ohtani broke modern records by consistently delivering elite performance on the mound and at the plate in the same seasons. He won the American League MVP Award in 2021 and 2023. At the 2023 World Baseball Classic, he was the heart of the Japanese national team, taking the mound as the final pitcher in the championship game and striking out his Angels teammate Mike Trout to secure Japan’s title. He was named WBC MVP.
In 2024, Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a landmark 10-year, $700 million contract — the richest in the history of professional sports. He went on to win the National League MVP Award in both 2024 and 2025, becoming the first player in history to win four MVP awards unanimously, cementing his status as the most celebrated baseball player of his generation.