Angels News: Shohei Ohtani Interested in Being a Closer in the World Baseball Classic
A grand stage like the World Baseball Classic brings together some of baseball's best players from all over the world to play for their respective countries. With that in mind, it was no doubt Shohei Ohtani would have his name called upon to hopefully compete for his home country of Japan.
Ohtani is interested in competing, but also mentioned he's more open to doing so in closer role when speaking to reporters in Japan's airport. In order for Ohtani to pitch as a starter, Ohtani would seriously have to ramp up his workload.
"If you’re going to pitch as a starter [in the WBC], you’d have to be built up to 60, 70 pitches. So you have to take that into account," Ohtani said. "But if they say you don’t have to start, there’s no reason to move up anything."
Playing as a reliever will decide how much of the off-season training will have to be changed for Ohtani. However, Ohtani is a true professional of the game and should be able to accommodate himself accordingly.
"If I’m a middle reliever or closer, there’s no need to speed up anything. That being said, if I’m going to be a starter," Ohtani said, I’ll have to start up early."
It remains to be seen whether or not Ohtani will play in the World Baseball Classic, and in what capacity. But if there is anything certain about Ohtani' comments, it's that he will always put his team first.
