Shohei Ohtani Shows Hope to Play in WBC

Tokyo, Nov. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani said in an Instagram post Thursday that he hopes to play in the World Baseball Classic in March 2023.

In his post, the Los Angeles Angels player said that he has officially informed Japan team manager Hideki Kuriyama of his hope to participate in the WBC.

"Looking forward for the opportunity to face the best players around the world and to be able to play in front of the Japanese fans for the first time in over 5 years!!" he said in the post.

Ohtani has never played in the WBC. In 2015, when he was a member of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, a Japanese professional baseball team, he participated in the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier 12 international competition as a pitcher.

Ohtani did not clarify whether he will join the WBC when he returned to Japan in October.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]