Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani will not pitch for Japan in World Baseball Classic

The most recent World Baseball Classic in 2023 ended with one of the greatest moments in recent baseball history when Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to secure Japan's 3-2 championship game win. It was such an iconic moment because Ohtani and Trout, who were the respective captains of Japan and the United States, were widely regarded as two of the best players in baseball and were also teammates at the time with the Los Angeles Angels.

There will be no repeat of that matchup, or anything even close to it, during the 2026 World Baseball Classic in March.

That is because Ohtani will not be pitching for Japan in the tournament, as announced by Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on Saturday.

Shohei Ohtani will not pitch for Japan at 2026 World Baseball Classic

Ohtani will still serve as the designated hitter for Japan in the tournament, but will not be taking the mound.

Roberts said that the decision was entirely Ohtani's, and that the Dodgers would have "absolutely" supported his decision to pitch if he had chosen to do so.

Even with that being the case, it is still probably for the best that Ohtani does not pitch in the tournament, just based on the fact that he was so limited on the mound during the 2025 season for the Dodgers.

Ohtani pitched just 47 innings for the Dodgers in 2025 as he was coming back from the second Tommy John surgery of his career. While he was highly effective in those 47 innings (with a 2.87 ERA) he was still clearly not 100% and not back to a full workload. The hope is that he will be there this season. Even though the Dodgers would have supported his decision to pitch for Japan, there is probably an unspoken sigh of relief that he will be saving his arm for the team that is paying him $700 million.

This year's World Baseball Classic will take place between March 5-17 (the championship game will be played on March 17), and will be played in the United States, Japan and Puerto Rico. The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship will all be played at Loan Depot Park, the home of the National League's Miami Marlins.