Tokyo (AFP) – Shohei Ohtani should quit pitching and concentrate on hitting after a disappointing season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, home run king Sadaharu Oh said Friday. Japanese superstar Ohtani plays as both a pitcher and a hitter — a rare feat that has seen him compared to the legendary Babe Ruth. But the 32-year-old struggled with injury and poor form as the Dodgers failed to win a third straight Major League Baseball championship this season.
His compatriot Oh, who holds the world record for hitting the most home runs ever, believes Ohtani’s heavy workload is taking its toll. “Personally I think it’s only natural that he might not be able to maintain that same level year after year,” Oh, now 86, told reporters at a Tokyo press conference. “I think it would be very interesting for him to focus on batting only and see how far he can take that.”
Related news
The Dodgers have ruled out off-season surgery for Ohtani, saying he would continue to pitch next season. Four-time Most Valuable Player Ohtani has struggled with knee and bicep problems since July. In statistical terms, his figures in 2026 marked his worst since signing for the Dodgers in 2023. After lashing 54 and 55 home runs in his first two regular season campaigns with the Dodgers, he cracked only 30 homers this year. His batting average dipped to .275, down from 2024 (.310) and 2025 (.282).
– Home run king – Ohtani is a national hero in Japan and a successor to Oh, who enjoys legendary status in his home country. Oh hit 868 career home runs — over 100 more than any player has ever achieved in MLB. He spent his entire career in Japan, where he starred for the Yomiuri Giants in the 1960s and 70s. Japanese players have enjoyed success in MLB since they started moving there in the 1990s.
Oh said he never thought about playing in the US but believes he could have made an impact if rules at the time had not prevented players from moving there. “MLB teams used to come to Japan and play games against us in the off-season but they would treat it a bit like a holiday,” he said. “Even so I still hit about 30 home runs in those games, so I think I could have had some success in the US. That said, in the US they have a hard schedule with a lot of travelling, so I wonder if that would have taken its toll on me.”
Oh is currently involved in programmes to give Japanese children more opportunities to play baseball. He was joined at the press conference by Hideki Kuriyama, who has coached Ohtani at club and international level. Kuriyama, who took Japan to the World Baseball Classic title in 2023, said he thought Ohtani would “come back and surprise us all” next season. “He had to deal with injury but I think he will take this opportunity to come back even greater,” he said.
© 2024 AFP
