Shohei Ohtani Gave Surprisingly Honest Quote About Playing in Japan

Even baseball's biggest superstar felt the nerves playing in his home country.

Shohei Ohtani played in front of his countrymen on Tuesday / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers kicked off the 2025 MLB season on Tuesday, taking on the Chicago Cubs across the Pacific Ocean in the Tokyo Series. In the first game of the year with first pitch early in the morning, the defending champion Dodgers defeated the Cubs, 4–1. Reigning NL MVP Shohei Ohtani picked up right where he left off, recording two hits and two runs in the victory.

Afterwards, Ohtani got reflective about playing in his home country and made a surprisingly honest admission: He was nervous out there.

"I was actually pretty nervous," Ohtani said while speaking to MLB Network's Harold Reynolds after the win through an interpreter. "It's been a while since I was nervous. But today, definitely felt it.

"It's a very unique environment, a unique situation where I do feel the fans expecting me to get some hits. So that was a little bit different."

Every time Shohei Ohtani stepped up to the plate today, the fans at the Tokyo Dome went silent.

The @Dodgers superstar discussed his nerves to be back in Japan and more with Harold after getting the Game 1 victory.#MLBTonight | #TokyoSeries pic.twitter.com/QSQ1vBGrlK

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 18, 2025

It's shocking to hear if only because Ohtani has accomplished just about everything under the sun as far as the game of baseball is concerned. He's won a World Series, multiple MVPs and won the World Baseball Classic while playing for his country. How could he possibly get nervous about playing on his home turf?

As he explains, though, Tuesday was different. All of Tokyo Dome fell silent when Ohtani was at the plate, with tens of thousands intently observing the international superstar working at his craft. There were no cheers or boos. Just an entire country holding its breath every time Ohtani was at the plate.

Can't blame the guy for being nervous, through that lens.

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