LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers are able to welcome Shohei Ohtani to Hollywood.
The largest celebrity in baseball shall be formally launched by the workforce at a information convention Thursday.
A singular two-way star as each a hitter and pitcher, the 29-year-old Japanese sensation left the Los Angeles Angels as a free agent after six years. He’s shifting 30 miles up Interstate 5 after the Dodgers outbid the competitors by providing a $700 million, 10-year contract in a deal introduced Monday.
It shall be Ohtani‘s first time speaking with the media since Aug. 9, two weeks before a pitching injury that required surgery and will keep him off the mound until 2025. He had the operation on Sept. 19, but the nature of the surgery was not fully announced. Ohtani had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 1, 2018.
The two-time AL MVP has a .274 batting average with 171 homers, 437 RBIs and 86 stolen bases along with a 39-19 record with a 3.01 ERA and 608 strikeouts in 481 2/3 innings. Ohtani has 34.7 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), per Baseball Reference.
“He’s received that edge the place he’s not afraid of any pitcher,” Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly mentioned. “Especially in the playoffs, you need a guy like that who obviously is not afraid and wants to be the star in a big moment.”
PHOTOS: The Dodgers are able to welcome Shohei Ohtani to Hollywood
Ohtani’s uncommon contract requires annual salaries of $70 million and of every 12 months’s wage, $68 million is deferred with no curiosity, payable in equal installments every July 1 from 2034-43. He can also decide out of the deal if both controlling proprietor Mark Walter or president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman not is with the workforce, an individual advised The Associated Press on situation of anonymity Wednesday as a result of the phrases weren’t introduced.
Kelly is switching uniform numbers, opening No. 17 for Ohtani.
“Our goal is the World Series every year,” Kelly mentioned, “so if you could put in players who aren’t afraid of the moment, it goes a long way here.”
