Shohei Ohtani Admits He Was Nervous in Tokyo Series Opener

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs faced off against each other in the MLB season opener in the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

But it wasn’t any ordinary game of baseball. It was a homecoming for the handful of Japanese players across both teams, including Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Shota Imanaga, and Seiya Suzuki. Yamamoto was the starting pitcher for the Dodgers and despite giving up an early run, he handled the occasion quite well, recording 4 strikeouts and 3 hits over 5 innings. Ohtani made 2 hits and 2 runs in the Dodgers 4-1 win.

After the game, Ohtani admitted he was more nervous than he had expected — perhaps a surprise for the 2024 World Series champion.

Speaking through his interpreter after the game, Ohtani said “I was actually pretty nervous… It’s been a while since I was nervous but today, I definitely felt it. It took me four or five innings.” 

The Tokyo Dome was at capacity 42,000 today, with reports suggesting that the stadium was completely full up to 2 hours before the first pitch was even thrown.

“I don’t think I have ever seen Shohei nervous,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “One thing I did notice was that he got emotional during the Japanese national anthem. That was very telling.”

In the build-up to the Tokyo series, the entire country of Japan has been crazy about Ohtani. Pictures of his face have been plastered on advertisements everywhere you look, and when the superstar stepped up to the plate today, there was a discernable silence amongst the crowd as they took their phones out — a far cry from the usual drums and noise created by the fans in Japan.

“I did notice the silence,” Ohtani said, “although it didn’t really bother me… I just had to adjust.”

As if there was little doubt before, one thing is clear: Ohtani is a hero in Japan.

“There was just so much anticipation to see anything he did,” said Roberts, “which was different than any one of our other players.”

The Dodgers and the Cubs will play tomorrow, and another young Japanese sensation is set to start for the Dodgers: Roki Sasaki.