Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani apologizes for Japans

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani expressed remorse Monday for his “shortcomings” following Japan’s early exit from the World Baseball Classic.

It is unclear what those shortcomings may need been. Over 4 video games during this yr’s event, Ohtani led Japan with a .462 batting average, three home runs and seven RBI in 13 at-bats.

Those stats are even better than those he posted as the MVP of the last WBC. Over seven video 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.

Overall, however, Japan completed with a .284 batting average, down from a .299 average three years in the past. Ohtani did account for his workforce’s last out of the 2026 event — an infield 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 cheers pushed us forward every day,” Ohtani wrote in Japanese. “We didn’t achieve the results we hoped for, and I deeply regret my own shortcomings.”

The two-way famous person didn’t pitch in this yr’s WBC, after famously placing out then-Angels teammate Mike Trout of the United States for the ultimate out of the 2023 championship recreation and going 2-0 with one save and a 1.86 ERA in that event.

Ohtani had his second Tommy John surgical procedure in September 2023 and didn’t pitch again until last June with the Dodgers. Manager Dave Roberts revealed in January that Ohtani had determined not to pitch in the WBC.