Ohtani Comes To America

It was going to be a challenge for Ohtani to start pitching again after taking last season off to recover from arm surgery, but that's what he thrives on. After coming back to the mound in mid-June, he slowly ramped up and ended up having a solid return. On the hitting side, he beat his home run record of last year by one and got to 55 this time. In the playoffs, he had a couple of particularl...

Ohtani’s first regular season with the Dodgers was a massive success, despite all the drama of the offseason leading up to it. He became the first player to ever hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same reason, which would land him his third MVP award in four years. More importantly for Ohtani, it was the first time he got to be in the playoffs. The Dodgers went all the way, beating the New...

It’s been a crazy offseason for Ohtani this year. Signing his $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency wasn’t the end of it. Aside from normal Spring Training ramping back up after his procedure, some other developments came up. On the positive side, Ohtani announced he was newly married to Mamiko Tanaka, who has been a Japanese basketball player in recent years. On the ne...

Ohtani has reported to Spring Training and is beginning a new journey to prepare for the start of the 2024 season. While the Dodgers were always a top contender and obvious destination in free agency, what if Ohtani had chosen somewhere else? Kev and Jack look through specific lenses – the uniforms, locations, stadiums, and competitiveness – at the 29 other MLB teams in the league. Subscribe to ou...

After getting the full breakdown on the $700 million contract that Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, perceptions around the deal shifted. While it was a 10-year contract to play for the team, $680 million of that will be deferred until after it finishes. For the next 10 years, Ohtani will make $2 million per year – which is the number that got headlines. However, for the Dodgers’ luxury tax purposes...

The big decision of free agency is done. Ohtani is staying in Southern California, but with the Los Angeles Dodgers as his next team. The contract is the biggest in sports history, $700 million for 10 years. After reporters had complained about it being too quiet and private a process for the sport, Friday included thousands of people tracking a flight to Toronto – and even Drake posting on Storie...

After winning the MVP in 2021 and falling second in 2022 to Aaron Judge’s record-breaking performance, Ohtani’s performance this year earned him a second unanimous MVP award win. Announced in mid-November, the next day a ESPN Films documentary was released – “Shohei Ohtani: Beyond The Dream” – about his journey from Japan to the U.S. and his unique vision to make it happen. Jack and Kev talk about...

After being shut down from pitching at the end of August, the rest of Ohtani's season also wrapped up earlier into September than expected. From an oblique injury that kept him as day-to-day, to then finally getting his elbow repair surgery (not full Tommy John), the decision was made that it was best for him to just heal at this point. Kev and Jack talk about the strange end to the season, as...

Ohtani was announced to have a UCL tear (in his elbow), which has stopped him from pitching for the rest of the season. And, depending if he gets Tommy John surgery again, could keep him from throwing next year as well. He’s still hitting for now, and could still do that most of 2024 as well, but there’s a lot more questions now overall around the future of Ohtani’s on-the-field play – let alone h...

While the Angels said they were listening to trade offers, Ohtani seemed to never really be close to getting moved by the team. So he'll remain in Anaheim through the end of the season before free agency. Instead, the Angels brought in a few new players to help supplement their push for the playoffs. Kev and Jack do a quick recap of the last couple weeks since the All-Star Break, from the trad...

June turned out to be one of the best months of Ohtani’s career, hitting 15 homers in 30 days and having some impressive pitching starts. While he is currently dealing with a cracked fingernail that impacted his last couple starts before the break, hopefully that will not continue to linger. In the meantime, Ohtani seemed to enjoy the All-Star Game in Seattle – easily making the team with his perf...

It’s a big year for Ohtani, as no longer after this season will he be committed to the Angels anymore. No more contract, and so far there’s been no real talks of him re-signing. So the pressure is on the Angels to win, and Ohtani wants to just as bad as ever – if not more, given he’s coming off leading Japan to victory in the World Baseball Classic only a few months ago. And now his opponent for t...

The winner of this year's World Baseball Classic all came down to the matchup everyone had been dreaming of: Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout. Little did we know it would be as perfect as could be, happening in the last out of the last game with the tying run at the plate. But just like with this podcast, Ohtani was the star. He struck out Trout to win Japan the WBC title, beating Team USA on thei...

It’s time for the World Baseball Classic (WBC), the international tournament akin to the World Cup – except for baseball, and not anywhere near as big around the world. However, in Japan, it is huge deal. This will be the first time Ohtani will play to represent his home country on this big stage, and he seems very excited to do so. Kev and Jack talk about some history of the tournament, Japan’s s...

In the postseason award announcements, Ohtani took 2nd place in the AL MVP race to slugger Aaron Judge for the 2022 season. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering the historic 62-homer show that Judge put on this year. But while Ohtani ended up only receiving two of the 30 first place votes, arguments could easily be made for both sides. Jack and Kev break down how the seasons compared, how "Mo...

It was a great year for Ohtani on a personal level, but once again no playoff baseball after a losing season from the Angels team. The second half of the season since the last episode at the All Star break mirrored that, as the Angels didn't do well under Phil Nevin taking over as manager mid-year. There is some positive development as owner Arte Moreno is finding a buyer to take the team off his...

The All-Star Break brings us around the midway mark of the year. It took a little bit for Ohtani to warm up this season, but now he's continued to heat up as summer came into the air. Jack and Kev talk about his latest stretch of dominant pitching, how his streaky bat's been, more records he's breaking, and Shohei's time at the ASB. Then, a venting session on the dumpster fire that is the Angels s...

After an unusual offseason for baseball with the lockout, Opening Day is back and Ohtani will take the mound tomorrow for his official pitching and hitting return. Kev and Jack talk about the new “Ohtani rule” that came out of the lockout, the GQ Cover story, Ohtani being the cover star for the MLB The Show ’22 video game, his Spring Training, and predictions for his numbers this year. Plus, how t...

With the playoffs and World Series over, it's time for baseball awards. Of course, they saved the most important one until the end, but it was worth the wait... Shohei Ohtani is your UNANIMOUS 2021 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER! He’s the first to get all the top place votes since Mike Trout almost a decade ago, and only a dozen or so players to ever to do it. Jack and Kev give their instant reactions to th...

The regular season is over and, as usual, the Angels did not make the playoffs or come close. While the second half of the year after the All-Star Break was quieter than the beginning for Ohtani, he still kept up the two-way play. It looks like he’ll be in line for the MVP, when those awards are given out in November (which we’ll be doing another episode for). In the meantime, Kev and Jack go over...

We’re at the break of an incredible first half for Ohtani where he’s leading the league in home runs, up there in Cy Young contention, and is giving us “Shotime” night in and night out – both on and off the mound. There’s been no bigger stage, however, then this past All-Star week. Ohtani participated in the Home Run derby, and then the next day was the leadoff hitter and starting pitcher in the A...

Now a three-way player sensation with making appearances in the outfield, Shohei Ohtani has taken the start of the 2021 baseball season by storm. Both his pitching on the mound and hitting at the plate have been exceptional, and this is the window of Shotime that we’ve been waiting for since he came to the MLB in 2018. Kev and Jack discuss how it’s all unfolded so far, notable moments, his current...

Opening Day is here again and the excitement has been noticeably increasing for Shohei Ohtani having a successful year as a two-way player on the mound and at the plate. After an impressive Spring Training on both ends, including some dingers, even the doubters and haters are starting to change their mind. Jack and Kev discuss the offseason, what he did in the Cactus League this March, and how it’...

It was a slow and torturous rest of the season to be a fan of Ohtani, even though he was finally able to just focus only on hitting after stopping pitching for his forearm strain. It turned out not to be a good year for him on either side of the baseball. Plus, the Angels once again didn’t make the playoffs (goodbye Billy Eppler), even though they almost snuck in over the Astros at the end. ...

Two weeks into the covid season, we have injury news. Ohtani is off the pitching mound for the season, although luckily he will still be able to keep hitting in games. Deja vu is real because it feels just like 2018. Jack and Kev discuss what this news means, how Ohtani’s season had been going before this happened, and what it means for the rest of the year. Plus, the biggest question of all: how...