MLB All-Star shares why Shohei Ohtani's potential was questioned before he arrived from Japan

LA Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is primed for another MVP nomination this year. The two-way star recently made his return to the mound after more than 20 months of recovery due to a UCL tear. At the plate, he has tallied a National League-leading 29 home runs to go with a .287/.388/.633 slash line.

Although has has proven himself that he's currently the best baseball player in the world, Ohtani's reputation was actually doubted prior to his move to MLB. With his domination in Japan's NPB, fans, players, and analysts were critical if the superstar's talent would translate to a "superior" league.

One such critic was former All-Star hurler Carlos Estevez, who shared his thoughts about Ohtani via "Baseball on Fanatics View" on YouTube.

"That's a big surprise. Even when he came over to the league, there was a lot of doubt and us as players kind of thought that it would be hard [for him]," said Estevez. (2:59-3:06)

Estevez further expounded that Shohei Ohtani's run of dominance was spectacular due to the fact that he was able to post absurd numbers even when he was recovering from an injury.

"If he gets his off days and he gets there, he's going to be fine. Then he was playing every single day trying to [complete] 162 games. I mean he got hurt. But still, the guy had Tommy John and won a World Series. Now, he debuted on the [mound] in the biggest [stage]. How can you do that? 100 [mph] right away. Come on." (3:07-3:30)

When he first set foot in the United States, doubts were cast on Ohtani as to whether the hype and following he received back home was deserved. After all Nipon Professional Baseball has been viewed by fans as an inferior league compared to MLB.

Now in his sixth season stateside, the baseball unicorn not only lived up to the billing but also surpassed the expectations of the doubters that he initially had.

Shohei Ohtani ties Willie Mays in rare feat

On Thursday's game against the Colorado Rockies, Shohei Ohtani further solidified his bid for Cooperstown as he recorded a feat that wasn't seen since Willie Mays in 1954.

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Ohtani smashed a solo home run at Coors Field for his 28th home run of the season and became the first player since the Hall of Famer to have at least said amount of home runs and six triples through the first 80 games of the campaign.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Daniel Santiago