Tokyo (AFP) – World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto joined his Los Angeles Dodgers team-mate Shohei Ohtani in being named in Japan’s World Baseball Classic squad on Monday as the defending champions completed their roster. Yamamoto and Ohtani are among seven current Major League Baseball players in Japan’s squad for the World Cup-like tournament, which is being held in Japan, the United States, and Puerto Rico from March 5-17.
Ohtani, the two-way superstar who helped the Dodgers win a second straight World Series title in November, had already been named in a first raft of squad members announced by manager Hirokazu Ibata last month. Yamamoto joined him along with other MLB players including Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs, Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox, and Kazuma Okamoto of the Toronto Blue Jays.
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“I feel a great sense of responsibility to represent Japan again,” Yamamoto said in a statement released by the team. “I’ve been training hard to be in shape for the World Baseball Classic. These are fantastic team-mates and coaching staff we can trust, and we want to come together and aim for the title.”
Japan won the tournament for a record-extending third time at the previous tournament in 2023. Ohtani delivered a fairytale 3-2 victory over the United States in the final in Miami, striking out then-Los Angeles Angels team-mate Mike Trout to clinch the win. Japan manager Ibata, who announced his full squad at a packed news conference in Tokyo, said Japan were “only thinking about winning the title.”
“I’m not so concerned about how we play as long as we win,” he said. Lars Nootbaar of the St. Louis Cardinals missed the squad through injury. The US-born Nootbaar, whose mother is Japanese, became a huge hit with the Tokyo crowd after being called up for the 2023 tournament.
Japan have been drawn in a first round pool with South Korea, Australia, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic, with all games to be played at the Tokyo Dome.
© 2024 AFP
