Four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani said Monday that he plans to join Samurai Japan to play in next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), to the delight of his fans.
“I’m happy to play again representing Japan,” the 31-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers star posted on Instagram in Japanese along with promotional images for the upcoming tournament.
2026 will mark Ohtani’s second appearance in the WBC. His first, in 2023, delivered one of the most memorable performances in the competition’s history — in the final moments of the championship game, he struck out Mike Trout, then his teammate at the Los Angeles Angels, for the last out of Japan’s 3-2 victory over Team USA, helping Japan claim its third WBC title. Ohtani also was named the tournament’s MVP.