Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani apologizes for Japan’s early WBC exit
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani expressed regret Monday for his “shortcomings” following Japan’s early exit from the World Baseball Classic.
It is unclear what these shortcomings might have been. In four games during this year’s tournament, Ohtani led Japan with a .462 batting average, three home runs and seven RBIs in 13 at-bats.
These stats are even better than the ones he posted as MVP of the last WBC. In seven games in 2023, Ohtani hit .435 with one home run and eight home runs in 23 at-bats to lead Japan to its third WBC championship.
However, overall, Japan finished with a .284 batting average, down from a .299 average three years ago. Ohtani reported on his team’s finale out of the 2026 tournament — an on-court popup to seal an 8-5 quarterfinal loss to Venezuela on Saturday — and took to Instagram two days later.
“Thank you to all the fans for your support. Your encouragement has pushed us forward every day,” Ohtani wrote in Japanese. “We did not achieve the results we had hoped for and I deeply regret my own shortcomings.”
The two-way superstar did not pitch in this year’s WBC, having knocked out then-Angels teammate Mike Trout of the United States for the final out of the 2023 championship game and going 2-0 with one save and a 1.86 ERA in that tournament.
Ohtani underwent his second Tommy John surgery in September 2023 and didn’t pitch again until last June with the Dodgers. Manager Dave Roberts revealed in January that Ohtani had decided not to compete in the WBC.
