Player Bio

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Shohei Ohtani, born July 5, 1994 in Oshu, Japan, is a professional baseball player currently playing for the Los Angeles Angels in the MLB. He is currently one of the few true two-way players, both regularly playing as a pitcher and designated hitter, to play in the MLB.

Ohtani began his professional playing career in Japan, playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (2013-2017) of Japan’s professional baseball league, the Nippon Professional Baseball’s (NPB) Pacific League. Heralded as a Japanese pitching phenom, Ohtani broke the Japanese high school pitching record by throwing a 99 mph fastball at the national high school baseball championship (Summer Koshien) and also had the fastest pitch to ever be recorded by a Japanese pitcher (102.5 mph) in the NPB’s Pacific League. In December 2017, Ohtani signed a deal with the Los Angeles Angels to play in the MLB.